When you think about it, all our problems are a bit bourgeois. When we fail, we do not die in the cold and of hunger. If we die young, it will most probably be because of the drink, all the fat, and whatever else is there in excess. Our failure will not be our extinction. We will just live our lives with the stench of a promise left unfulfilled and expectations never met.

So we labor not to feed ourselves, or keep our bodies clothed and sheltered. We hack our way through this life to define ourselves. We take risks, because the alternative, a defeated, embittered way of life, just sucks.

These can be scary times but I know you can do it. I believe in you. That's it. Sorry to have gone Oprah (or Paulo Coelho) on you.