“… then I was a young man a thousand years old, and now I am an old man waiting to be born.”

– Charles Bukowski

For the most part, we live inside our heads. And, as we grow older, we tend to the same, limited conversations. As a result, our comfort zone atrophies to the point where we avoid change, however small.

Why is this?

Fear.

Fear of what?

Losing what we have?

Possibly, but it’s more likely because we’re conditioned to believe that our object is to settle down, lead a sedentary life and leave all our childish dreams behind.

What nonsense.

Life is a gift — the mightiest of them all other than mother earth’s bounty.

What you have to consider, though, is that if this life is to count for something more than the passing of days, you must approach each day completely afresh, assuming nothing and knowing nothing. In that way, it’s highly unlikely you’ll give up before you’ve even started…as so many people seem to do.

As someone who’s witnessed death and been close to the edge on at least one occasion, I know that I can’t settle for a life half lived. It’s all or nothing. It may sound terribly maudlin but I’d rather die trying than not at all.

If you’re facing a situation that seems impossible, or you’re fed up having the same internal conversation, don’t give up, even if it means crawling forward one tiny step at a time. You’re bigger than that no matter what that internal critic might tell you.

Of course, I can’t get you to act something out if you don’t believe it, but if you look at those less fortunate than you, you’ll quickly realise how lucky you are to rise again today and be able to have one more go.

It’s banal to say life is what we make it, but it truly is.