I was having a conversation with one of the people I count as part of my outboard brain today and, as often does, some truth came out. Talking about people and how we all have issues and no one is fine and so on and of course the important part is very simple:

No one is all right.

You walk down the street and your mind wanders. You see people walking, they seem to be full of purpose, maybe talking with others even, and you’re just wandering alone with no plan. Just out for a walk. But look at those folk! They’re all so… together. They seem to have direction and purpose and nothing holding them back.

Except, you know, each and every one of those people is, on some level, thinking the same thing when they see you go by. They’re all lost in their problems and their shells and wondering why everyone else looks like they have it worked out. Society trains us to be very good about putting a decent face forward when we’re out and about, even if we don’t mean to.

Look, the most together, awesome hardcore motherfucker you know has problems and issues. Some of them run deep and some are only on the surface but everyone has shit they have to deal with and everyone on the planet has room to grow into a better person. Simply everyone. No one is excepted from that. No one. None of this should be news, but it is also easy to forget. The trick though, the part that is often skipped, I find, is that knowing that everyone is fucked up is not to be used as an excuse, ever.

I don’t care who you are, what your problems are or how you’re doing. You should be striving to become a better you, for whatever that means to you, as much as possible. It doesn’t matter what your situation is, you know what a better version of you entails. Whatever that is, and it changes for each person, should be your goal. And it never stops and it never ends and there’s a joy to be found in that.

It’s the joy found in hard work. The sort of thing that you want to curse as often and hold dear to your heart. Make no mistake here, no one gets it right every day. The idea is to never stop trying. Because we’re all, each and every one of us, fucked up to the core – somehow. So let’s stop denying it and being ashamed of it and hiding it and all of the bullshit. Because what are the other options, realistically? Hide and dodge and never push forward? Is that really a viable option for living, because I don’t think it is.

I mean, really, fuck it. Let’s make a conscious choice to accept who we are for who we are and then improve ourselves on top of that. What else are you going to do?