Dear TBI survivor,
Not to depress you or anything, but think about it –you’re not the only one suffering, and suffering is not exactly unfamiliar in the world.
Yes, it’s terrible that you have sustained an injury that’s screwing up your life. And it’s a tragedy that you’ve lost so much along the way. The world was your oyster, and now you’re struggling to just handle the basic day-to-day stuff.
It sucks. It’s rotten. It’s terrible. I’m not being facetious. It really, really is bullshit.
And that’s life.
I read the other day that Africa’s population has doubled. That’s twice as many people starving, in pain and anguish and suffering genocide. India and China either abort or throw away or give away baby girls, from what I’ve read. In Latin America, torture and abduction and political oppression are “standard issue” experiences. In the Middle East, young men (and women) are actively recruited and militarized and sent out to kill and be killed, continuing a never-ending cycle of violence and retribution that sucks the rest of the world into their strife on a globally disruptive scale.
How much more wretched can human experience be?
Lookit — the evidence that life just sucks is pretty compelling. I work with a Russian individual who tells me there’s a saying that goes something like, “With today’s advanced technology and medicine, we can add another 20 years to your pointless existence.” Which strikes me as being very honest. Depressing, but honest.
Oh, well… It’s not like any of this is new. People have been preying upon each other and flaying each other alive for as long as they’ve been running around the planet. People have a real skill at being real bastards to one another, and they have a great talent for screwing up things that could/should be easy and fun and positive.
But the real issue is, what we do in spite of it all. What do we do with this one bright shining life we all have? What do we do with the spark that ignites us? How do we fan the flames of hope? How do we keep ourselves going, when all seems lost? Death and destruction and desperation are nothing new. People have been facing up to them and dealing with them for aeons.
And out of it all comes, well, something better. Somehow, people manage to compost the shit of life and grow real progress. In Africa, a lone woman figured out how to plant and sustain trees that are “re-greening” large areas of Africa. India and China, say what you will, are cradles of civilization and have — and continue to — contribute plenty of advancements to the human experience. Latin America is a huge driver in the international marketplace. And despite the upheaval and destruction in the Middle East, there is some pretty cutting-edge peaceful progress being made there, in steps, however small. But it’s still progress.
When I’m at my most despairing, my most depressed, I tend to recite that Russian mantra about life being essentially pointless. Maybe it’s true. But it’s also — in places, at times — tremendously interesting. And it can also be a lot of fun. I’ve been injured. At times, very badly. I have lost a lot of good things in my life. I have had to say good-bye to some pretty cool parts of my past. And I have had to sacrifice a great deal, just to keep standing.
But hey, that’s life.
At least I’m still here. And I always get another chance.
So long as I don’t give in to the awfulness.
Dear TBI survivor,
Not to depress you or anything, but think about it –you’re not the only one suffering, and suffering is not exactly unfamiliar in the world.
Yes, it’s terrible that you have sustained an injury that’s screwing up your life. And it’s a tragedy that you’ve lost so much along the way. The world was your oyster, and now you’re struggling to just handle the basic day-to-day stuff.
It sucks. It’s rotten. It’s terrible. I’m not being facetious. It really, really is bullshit.
And that’s life.
I read the other day that Africa’s population has doubled. That’s twice as many people starving, in pain and anguish and suffering genocide. India and China either abort or throw away or give away baby girls, from what I’ve read. In Latin America, torture and abduction and political oppression are “standard issue” experiences. In the Middle East, young men (and women) are actively recruited and militarized and sent out to kill and be killed, continuing a never-ending cycle of violence and retribution that sucks the rest of the world into their strife on a globally disruptive scale.
How much more wretched can human experience be?
Lookit — the evidence that life just sucks is pretty compelling. I work with a Russian individual who tells me there’s a saying that goes something like, “With today’s advanced technology and medicine, we can add another 20 years to your pointless existence.” Which strikes me as being very honest. Depressing, but honest.
Oh, well… It’s not like any of this is new. People have been preying upon each other and flaying each other alive for as long as they’ve been running around the planet. People have a real skill at being real bastards to one another, and they have a great talent for screwing up things that could/should be easy and fun and positive.
But the real issue is, what we do in spite of it all. What do we do with this one bright shining life we all have? What do we do with the spark that ignites us? How do we fan the flames of hope? How do we keep ourselves going, when all seems lost? Death and destruction and desperation are nothing new. People have been facing up to them and dealing with them for aeons.
And out of it all comes, well, something better. Somehow, people manage to compost the shit of life and grow real progress. In Africa, a lone woman figured out how to plant and sustain trees that are “re-greening” large areas of Africa. India and China, say what you will, are cradles of civilization and have — and continue to — contribute plenty of advancements to the human experience. Latin America is a huge driver in the international marketplace. And despite the upheaval and destruction in the Middle East, there is some pretty cutting-edge peaceful progress being made there, in steps, however small. But it’s still progress.
When I’m at my most despairing, my most depressed, I tend to recite that Russian mantra about life being essentially pointless. Maybe it’s true. But it’s also — in places, at times — tremendously interesting. And it can also be a lot of fun. I’ve been injured. At times, very badly. I have lost a lot of good things in my life. I have had to say good-bye to some pretty cool parts of my past. And I have had to sacrifice a great deal, just to keep standing.
But hey, that’s life.
At least I’m still here. And I always get another chance.
So long as I don’t give in to the awfulness.
Dear TBI survivor,
Not to depress you or anything, but think about it –you’re not the only one suffering, and suffering is not exactly unfamiliar in the world.
Yes, it’s terrible that you have sustained an injury that’s screwing up your life. And it’s a tragedy that you’ve lost so much along the way. The world was your oyster, and now you’re struggling to just handle the basic day-to-day stuff.
It sucks. It’s rotten. It’s terrible. I’m not being facetious. It really, really is bullshit.
And that’s life.
I read the other day that Africa’s population has doubled. That’s twice as many people starving, in pain and anguish and suffering genocide. India and China either abort or throw away or give away baby girls, from what I’ve read. In Latin America, torture and abduction and political oppression are “standard issue” experiences. In the Middle East, young men (and women) are actively recruited and militarized and sent out to kill and be killed, continuing a never-ending cycle of violence and retribution that sucks the rest of the world into their strife on a globally disruptive scale.
How much more wretched can human experience be?
Lookit — the evidence that life just sucks is pretty compelling. I work with a Russian individual who tells me there’s a saying that goes something like, “With today’s advanced technology and medicine, we can add another 20 years to your pointless existence.” Which strikes me as being very honest. Depressing, but honest.
Oh, well… It’s not like any of this is new. People have been preying upon each other and flaying each other alive for as long as they’ve been running around the planet. People have a real skill at being real bastards to one another, and they have a great talent for screwing up things that could/should be easy and fun and positive.
But the real issue is, what we do in spite of it all. What do we do with this one bright shining life we all have? What do we do with the spark that ignites us? How do we fan the flames of hope? How do we keep ourselves going, when all seems lost? Death and destruction and desperation are nothing new. People have been facing up to them and dealing with them for aeons.
And out of it all comes, well, something better. Somehow, people manage to compost the shit of life and grow real progress. In Africa, a lone woman figured out how to plant and sustain trees that are “re-greening” large areas of Africa. India and China, say what you will, are cradles of civilization and have — and continue to — contribute plenty of advancements to the human experience. Latin America is a huge driver in the international marketplace. And despite the upheaval and destruction in the Middle East, there is some pretty cutting-edge peaceful progress being made there, in steps, however small. But it’s still progress.
When I’m at my most despairing, my most depressed, I tend to recite that Russian mantra about life being essentially pointless. Maybe it’s true. But it’s also — in places, at times — tremendously interesting. And it can also be a lot of fun. I’ve been injured. At times, very badly. I have lost a lot of good things in my life. I have had to say good-bye to some pretty cool parts of my past. And I have had to sacrifice a great deal, just to keep standing.
But hey, that’s life.
At least I’m still here. And I always get another chance.
So long as I don’t give in to the awfulness.