All Hail to the Strugglers.

I love strugglers.

Perhaps I should clarify.

I like people who admit they’re struggling.

Because I believe everyone is struggling, but those who admit it are more interesting, and honest.

They’re in it. In the struggle. They are not trying to avoid or deny it.

Well, not ‘they.’

We.

We’re in it.

I struggle like a mo fo. With food, with exercise, with my cold therapy (still…can you believe it? I’ve been getting in super cold showers daily for over two years and still struggling. O’ brain, when will you learn?), with guitar-playing, screenwriting, podcasting.

I think one of the tricks to living a successful life is understanding these two things:

1. That to live a good life means you will struggle
2. That the more you accept #1, the less struggle there will be

If you don’t accept #1, you’ll struggle to deny the struggle.

That’s pretty meta, no?

And just guess what happens if you try to remove/deny/ignore the struggle…

You’ll be a prime candidate for anything and everything that will help you achieve that. Like…

Junk foods, other drugs, or quick fixes that promise a near struggle-free ‘skip ahead.’

Anything that will ‘protect you’ (but, you know, not actually protect) from the struggle or from even thinking about it.

Other than the obvious drawbacks of the junk food/drug/quick fix strategy for (not) dealing with struggle, it’s also not, well, interesting.

Let’s face it, the struggle IS interesting. When people achieve success in spite of struggle, it’s super cool. When we hear the stories of these people and know their struggles, that’s interesting.

Not interesting? Mr. or Mrs. Slick who claims nothing bothers them, and that they don’t get stressed. “It’s all good,” they say. “No worries.” “I just go with the flow.”

Not interesting and pretty much 100% chance not true.

On the other hand, when we acknowledge the struggle, we all gain some much-needed empathy. We give ourselves a bit more of a break and we give others a break too.

So what about the people in your life who seem like they’ve got it all together?

They might.

But, if they really have it all togeher, they’re working for it.

As it should be.

And, really, the more I think about it, I’ve come to this conclusion…

If anyone tells you they aren’t struggling, that nothing stresses them out, they’re either using ‘artificial’ means to keep themselves out of that rabbit hole or they’re lying their asses off.

All hail to the strugglers.