Practical Advice

This Week Is Decision Week. Woo Who!
Note the genuine enthusiasm.

Around this time many people are finding everything speeding towards choices about what they’re going to be, who they want to be, and what they’re going to do. All while they attempt to wade through the massive amounts of bullshit and lies that years of jaded individuals have supplied them with. So now here you are standing on the apex of your life awaiting a breezy or a “Deus ex machina” (God from the machine. Look it up and learn something) to push you down to wherever you’re meant to be.That sounds like a wonderful notion, however, I have good news and bad news.

First let’s touch on the bad news. The “God in the machine” or divine intervention moment may not come the way you’re thinking. Life doesn’t always drop hints on which way you should go. Sure there may be a moment or situation that arises in it that guides to a place but don’t count on it. Accept the fact that sometimes you just have to blindly head in a direction and let the chips fall where they may. You may end up walking through glass or a field of flowers either way the path ahead of you is your own and no amount of preparation can hype you up. Open the door and get your ass out there. Who knows maybe the path you’re hesitating to get on is going to change everything and lead you exactly where you needed to be.
Okay. Now for the good news. If you do so happen to fuck up and fail it’s alright. I could offer loads of cliches and idioms about failure, but instead just think about this: failure is just another opportunity to try something new. It may not sound like such an appealing proposition at first but really think about it. Failing is painful and chaotic but from failure eventually comes success. Most times in life especially when it comes to creation they’re a lot of failures. Evolution for example is just a series of failings until something finally sticks and becomes the best most adaptable creature in the series. Thomas Edison and a bunch of other inventors have all failed and eventually created something that now we can’t even fathom being without. The only real failure is failing to continue once something doesn’t go the way you wanted. So yes you may fuck up and fall short, but as long as you don’t stay there wallowing in your own defeat there’s still a chance to get it right. Don’t quit!

Even as I’m writing this there’s a million things I wish I was better at. Hell I’m terrible at math. If failing at math equated to a monetary value let’s just say I’d be sitting pretty next to Warren Buffet and the ghost of Steve Jobs. Quitting was something I had to shake off. The urge to stop fighting and trying was super strong but I just couldn’t do it. Too much depended on my success and I couldn’t let it beat me. Here’s a secret. Come closer. Closer than that. NO ONE IS PERFECT! WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING WE’RE TERRIBLE AT!
Trust me on this one if you know anyone exempt from this universal truth then I’d suggest you call the authorities because that person isn’t human. Not everyone can be excellent at every single thing they encounter. I’m positive that behind closed doors some of the things you think others got easily there was actually a struggle. So again go bravely forward this week. Do something different and seek out the path ahead of you. It’s completely possible that you’ll fail and explode, but when the smoke clears there you’ll be ready looking up at your defeat asking “please sir more.” Grab life and hold on for all you’ve got. Who knows where you’ll end up.
Life is beautiful, don’t believe me? Ask someone who’s dying. Right now you may dislike it, but when it’s slipping away like the sand between your fingers you’re going to miss it. Don’t ever take a single moment for granted. As you read that sentence somewhere a person died. They drew their final breaths as you paused at the period. While you read they probably were flooded with moments they wished they’d embraced, and people they wished they could be with. A myriad of things flashed past them and was gone all as you paused. Don’t let your final moments be spent wondering what WOULD of happened. Decide on your path and hold to it till the end. Live a life so vibrant that even Death is forced marvel at your tenacity.

Remember it’s alright to fail it’s apart of the system, but quitting is just like shitting on all the people who got you there.
Go listen to some Radiohead (Airbag or Everything’s In It’s Right Place are good places to start) , eat an utterly amazing meal, and dust yourself off before starting the process again. Don’t shun the potential inside yourself just because obstacles being mean to you. Go do something about it.

Cheers.
-The High Times Of A Low-Life

At A Bar.



The lone man sat dismally drinking away on his barstool as the world turned.
An old jukebox played on in the corner reminding him of former glories and one nightstands gone by.
All around him sat the losers of the night. Guys and girls who like he had no place better to be and drinking was their only solace.
Sounds of defeat echoed around him, but the only thing he could hear was the voice he’d been drowning in rivers of Kentucky bourbon to forget.
“Allison Woods, may she forever rest in infamy.” His brain said to his heart.
“Here, Here.” It replied. The revelry continued joyously as more liquid fire poured into his open wound.
The bottom of the bottle and a lofty check came faster than he’d expected. The dark haired bartender stood looking anxiously down at him
her domineering gaze said volumes, but all his bourbon laced brain could translate was drink more or leave.
Nodding slowly he laid his debit card on the bar.
Annoyed, she grabbed his card quickly going about her work leaving him still sitting silently.
The lone drinker finished the last of his bourbon and closed his eyes as a familiar song played on in the room. A sad guitarist poured his soul into the notes. Singing about losing himself in love and waiting for his woman to find him again. The words rang out inside the man till he to was lost.
So lost in the verses of nostalgia that he paid no attention to her return. If he had been looking he would have noticed her annoyed look of
disapproval. But instead he quietly sang along with the lines of the song putting all his pain into every the rise and fall of every note.
The rest of bar heard not even a syllable of his chorus, but she could hear and feel the pain in his voice.
Love and pity walk a fine line always tottering to and fro, but just this once she found both in her eyes as she listened.
She lay her hand silently on the bar next to his wanting to touch him but unsure what to do. His voice pulled her closer, all the way in till she couldn’t help but touch
his hand. He opened his eyes in time to see her caress his hand. Before he could speak the jukebox changed again this time he didn’t know the song, but her heart yelled out that she did. Her brain demanded that her mouth stay closed and save them both from embarrassment, but to no avail her heart had already begun it’s release.
Slowly her voice slipped beyond the safety of her lips and reached out to the lonely man. Her voice sweetly spoke of beauty untold and promises of pleasure that would appear if
given the chance to unfold.  Their eyes locked on each other in metaphysical embrace. Damned words like Allison Woods were forgotten for more saintly speech as she sang.
Uncertainty gripped him till his heart spoke up. His answer was fuzzy and his brain couldn’t translate  but he took a chance and squeezed her hand as she sang. A quiet forever lasted in the seconds before she responded. His brain prepared a eulogy for his pride, and was already starting his final words as she finally smiled at him. Beauty shone from every pore in her face and shook his very existence. Her smile melted hours of bourbon and whiskey away bringing clarity that he’d almost certainly lost till finally pulling her close he whispered, “I love your voice…I’m Evan Hicks by the way.”
Momentarily freed from the murky haze his brain yelled obscenities at his word choices. His heart smiled suppling a the last stores of confidence. Her smile shined down on him as the jukebox played on. Leaning in to his left ear she whispered back, “Nice to meet you Evan. I’m Tiffany Florin, and you have a beautiful voice too.”
Song after song played on as the two grinned and connected. No one around them could heard their exchange or even paid attention the small miracle that was happening in front of them. Because that night despite the tremendous odds against it a man found love after heartbreak, and a woman met someone whose pain matched her own and could sing it all away.

Top