This is a weird concept, but bear with me.

The more life knocks me down, the stronger I get. The stronger I get, the happier I am. This is what I have found.

Americans are so spoiled. We've come to believe in the myth that we deserve to have everything all at once. And I'm not just talking about "those people." I'm talking about you. I'm talking about me.

The biggest mistake you can ever make is to think that someday you will reach a point when all aspects of your life are in balance, and then you can enjoy yourself. That is wrongheaded, dangerous, and just plain dumb. Your life will never be in balance. Or rather, it will always be in balance: Some parts will be "up" and others will be "down," but rarely will all parts of your life be "up," and then it is only temporary. Change is the only constant. And sometimes life will utterly suck. Get used to it.

One of my inherent traits is the belief that I should be able to "fix" everything in my life. But the more I realize, and this is important, by realize I do not mean "tell myself" but rather "understand in every cell of my body," that expecting it all to suddenly come together is a fruitless battle, the more I feel as though I am invincible. Right now I truly understand that fact, and I have enough seritonin in my brain right now to kill a horse.

And so, when mildly sucky stuff happens to me, I roll with it, because I can see it coming down Lake Avenue like a runaway dump truck with no brakes. You want me to work 10 hours today? Hell, for you sweetcheeks, I'll do 12. You want me to spend it lifting and throwing 50-lb sacks? I see your 50 and raise it to 65. My car won't make it up the hill? Well, that means I get a fun walk in the beautiful snow.

In addition, understanding this concept makes all of the terrific things in life that we normally take for granted glaringly obvious. The littlest things take on a magical glow.

I guess I should have written this entry on Thanksgiving, because it has that feel to it. But I was too busy eating absolutely delicious food prepared by extremely good friends.

After lifting and throwing heavy sacks all day, that is.