His Glass is Half Empty, but Pops is Full of Advice.
Dear Pops,
I don’t really know how to say this without sounding soft, but I could use a little perspective.
Lately it feels like I’m carrying more
than I can hold.
Some days I keep my
head down and
grind
through it.
Other days, it feels like
I’m just pretending I can.
You always seem like the kind of guy who doesn’t flinch when things get heavy. I’m trying to figure out how to be more like that.
How do you keep going when the weight doesn’t let up?
Appreciate any words you got,
Jake
Tulsa,
OK
Wake up, Pack Mule Jake, you sound like a therapy dog that bit itself.
Oh, boo-fuckin’-hoo, your life’s heavy.
Guess
what, genius — if life feels light,
it’s because you’re in a
coma.
You’re bitching about
carrying too much like you stumbled into it
by accident.
Newsflash, dipshit:
you loaded the goddamn wagon.
You want a pep talk?
Here it is:
Nobody’s coming, nobody cares, and
gravity wins.
You think the old-timers who built this
broken shithole of a country sat around
crying about how “hard” it
was?
Hell no.
They worked until
their spines crumbled like old breadsticks
and then died coughing into a handkerchief
someone else couldn’t afford to wash.
You wanna be tougher?
Here’s how you do
it, Jake:
You shut the fuck up, pick up the next
brick, and keep stacking until your bones
make a sound nobody’s heard
before.
You don’t get applause.
You
don’t get a parade.
You don’t even get
respect half the time.
You get a
slightly better view of the shithole from
higher up the mountain you built by hand.
And let’s get something straight, Mr.
Sensitive Shoulders —
You don’t
“grind through it some days” and
“pretend other days.”
You
pretend every day.
You
smile when you’re dead inside.
You
laugh when your soul’s got duct tape on
it.
You give the world the middle
finger by just waking up again.
You want real advice?
Next time it
feels heavy, throw another sandbag on top
just to spite it.
Start laughing while
it crushes you.
Make life nervous for
once.
That’s how you carry the weight, Jake.
You
make it wonder what the fuck it’s dealing
with.
Now get off my brain,
Pops
