Fire in the Rain

It's raining... Alright, it's not actually raining. The weather outside is still the same ice-slicked, white tundra of Wisconsin, but for the purpose of this metaphor... it's raining. I believe that it should be the goal of every single person to set their life on fire until the radiant light of earth is the envy of the night sky.

But it's raining. It's always been raining, and it's a storm that will never end. While lighting a fire in the rain isn't impossible, for many, it may as well be. It's a shower of doubt, criticism, damp self-loathing.

Now I'm not going to sit here and tell you to cast away your fears. I won't convince you that your uncertainty is an unjustified specter in your head. Heck, for all I know, it may be perfectly justified. Either way, me plucking away and waxing poetic won't change your mind. I can't cure you of your skepticism, so I'm not going to try.

Here's my quandary for the day. Why do people seek the inspiration of motivational quotes from famously successful people. Call me a cynic, but when I hear that Stephen King said "you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will," all I think is, "Yeah, if you're Stephen Freakin King!"

These people are so hopeful and so convinced that they've gained their success because of this mindset. It might be true, but I doubt it was true for the homeless man who froze to death while maintaining his positive, never-give-up attitude.

The point, of course, is that divine words from these rare diamonds of the world really mean nothing to me. I've worked hard, and even in the most bleak of circumstances, I've never given up. So what happens if I'm hit by a bus tomorrow, having never tasted this success that they promised?

Okay, so now this all seems very dismal and foreboding. I assure you, it's not.

It's raining. Let it rain. Doubt and confusion is natural. If you listen to these people telling you that you need to cast it aside or overcome it, all you'll accomplish is to make yourself feel weak because, despite your efforts, it's always there. Don't. All you need to do is march forward in spite of it.

Bear in mind that this is coming, not from someone who has been blessed by good fortune or a brilliant stroke of luck, but from a guy still in those trenches. I'm still broke. My tiny apartment is still a mess, and with every step forward, I am terrified that it will all have been for nothing. But I march on.

This is a dark and unrelenting storm, and we have all been born to it. Accept it. Pay no attention to those people who over-simplify things and tell you that "with the right attitude, the world is your oyster". Just keep moving. Put one foot forward, and then another. I won't promise you that it will pass, because I don't know. What I will promise, is that we will never stop. Our hands will shake, our feet will bleed, our hearts will break, and we will never stop.

Life is a beautiful swarm of chaos, and we are the titans that tread it. Will we set fire to our lives? I don't know, but I hope so. What I do know, is that you won't do it sitting where you are.