Listen up!
I chose happiness.
And so can you.

Choose satisfaction over suffering
Choose content over conflict
Choose passion over paradigm
Choose working on it over getting worn down

I saw a vision of a future me
A sniveling sycophant
groping, choking, groveling shit-shoveler
scheming his way to the middle
overvalued and unimportant
taking punishment as payment
grateful and godforsaken
And I chose happiness.

I got a phone call last week from another me
He’s running six years late and his car broke down
somewhere in the middle of holy-crap-how’d-i-get-here
so, could I pick him up?
And I chose happiness.

My childhood sent me a Facebook message
Asking what happened
why’d I change
I you we used to be different

He wants to join the school paper so he can call someone “Chief”
He wants to start a rock band, he wants to be a rabbi, he wants to study garbage or rocks
He wants to make art, write books, play house, be cool, be smart, make friends, grades and the team
He wants to be a cartoon character, he wants to be a super hero

Based on that checklist, I’m something of a failure
It’s not a bad read on the situation
I certainly failed to meet my own expectations

When I chose happiness.
And so can you.