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You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real

A few weeks ago, I wrote about receiving some surprising and not-so-welcoming news. As much as I hate to be cryptic, I have to remain cryptic on this topic. Alas, I can talk very openly about how I've dealt (and continue to deal) with this matter.

No proverbial shoes have dropped yet, and if (or when) they drop, I'm trying to focus on whatever comes of it. Rather than thinking about what might come, I'd prefer to roll with the punches that David Lee Roth suggested all those years ago. Live with what has happened rather than what might happen.

As easy as it may sound in a philosophy book or in a pop song, I've found the desire to not worry incredibly liberating. Maybe I have a hard to telling the difference between wondering and worrying. That might be the root of it.

But I think a bigger part of this root stems from hearing about taking too many preventative measures. All of my life, I've heard plenty about being prepared, bracing yourself for the worst, and so on. More often than not, it's over-preparing for a reality that hardly ever comes to pass.

I'm not living with my head in the sand or in the clouds here. If I smoked all of my life, I should not be surprised if I got lung cancer. But in the case of this train I've been on since college, it could derail or it might not. Forecasting might be a good way to pass the time, but you can really miss a lot (or sadly, all) of the present. You can either stay put and cry about the wreckage or you could start walking down the road you want to go down.

Maybe I've listened to talk radio too much or watched network news too much over the years. The always-used questions of "How could have we prevented this?" and "What can we do to make sure this never happens again?" might keep an audience for advertisers to sell their products to, but usually nothing more.

As George Rebelo of Hot Water Music told me once (in the context of dealing with the band slowing down, almost to a halt): life happens. I've kept that in mind for all these years since he told me. Maybe I need daily reminders.

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