It is a day full of learning, and we are jumping right in.

We can keep this one simple. What to do? Whatever it takes. When to do it? Do it now.

We could end this article with those answers, but where's the fun in that. I have not always been able to live according to these principles. Historically, I fell far short of doing. Presently, I work hard to live by these, and I still fall short at times.

We won't get too deep into some of the wasted time. I will say that wasted time leads to a wasted life. I have wasted time, and I can never get it back. I will die knowing that I could have done more. I will die one day, knowing that when I realized the wastefulness, I turned it all around. I won't spend much time on this, it may be wasted.

This writing is not wasted time because it is time in creation. The creation of things is what life is all about. Create to make the world a better place. Share it with people, and then we die. Taking the ultra-long-term stance, it all becomes meaningless, and why should we keep going. What if it all ended tomorrow, would you be proud?

I am proud of what I am doing today, proud of the man I've become, and proud of the progress I've made to extricate myself from those types of situations that lead to waste. I won't sit around with you and waste time. Please don't waste mine. But it is obvious that the readers of this cannot waste my time, they can't contact me, and they don't have the ability to change what I am doing. Those who don't read, will never read, and it becomes something of a nullity.

People. Yep. People. If you know, you know.

Some folks like to be wasting time. Them folks need to do better. I won't suffer fools, and the stupidity of it all sickens me. But we'll remain positive in this one. There is hope for us yet.

The work it takes to get there is immense. It is not for the faint of heart. Honestly, I'm not convinced I want to do it. Because I'm starting late, it all feels so pointless. But it's not pointless. This is the only life we have, and we don't get another, we don't get that time back. Those wasted 10 years are never coming back, and we have a couple options upon this realization.

One of the options is to admit defeat. Give up. Eat that bullet. Try to stop that train. See what it's like to run your car into a telephone pole. Maybe jump off a bridge. This is a completely viable option. If you choose this path, make sure you pay me any money you owe me before you start down the path.

Another option is to just keep down the path. Feign obliviousness. Smoke and drink until it doesn't matter anymore. Treat life as a wild ride and do all the things. 'Cause, fuck it, we already wasted all that time and it's pointless to try now. There are people 10 years younger who are in a much better position to do, why should I even try?

There are plenty of other viable options, every option is viable actually. The one I like is different from the previous.

My favorite option is to say fuck the past and move on with your life. That shit happened, yes you did all those things you can never tell a soul about, and yes, you'll always have that past to haunt you, if you let it. Just don't let it. Own it. Take extreme ownership of who you are and what you've done. Then, move the fuck on. Get on with life and stop fretting the past. We all wish we had made a different choice at one time or another. The victors are those who wake up to realize it, and then make a different choice.

This last option is hopeful, and it is the one I'm choosing. It is a struggle to keep at bay the thoughts that would lead me astray. It is difficult to keep it up because of the constant negativity that flows in. Maybe it flows from within. Either way, it must be left to pass. Engagement only makes it stick around. It is like the tar baby, don't touch it, it will stick to you.

Mindfulness is akin to no mind. Being aware is being not aware. Allowing that to pass which may otherwise talk hold. Using the mind to keep the mind from being used. It all sounds so esoteric. But I don't have enough understanding to share any true knowledge on the subject. I only know what I know, but that is enough to know. All the entendres you want, packed into one sentence.

Cutting to the chase. Pick yourself up, do something moving forward, and don't spend your time in the past. Make new decisions, be proud of yourself, and fuck all those people who would wish you well but have no interest in sticking around to see how it all turns out (you know who you are, I saw you when you came in). Spoiler alert, it all turns out just fine because you keep moving forward. Stop disparaging yourself because you are perfectly you, and that is everything you will ever be. Learn to love yourself for who you are.

This is Learning Made Hard.