Life is trying. This includes trying to learn from your mistakes. I have. Which is why I’m now the smartest guy on planet earth, and why I no longer make mistakes.
Do you believe that? I didn’t think so.
Okay, it’s true that I make a lot of mistakes, and I’ve been learning long enough to have become a grandfather. Twice.
I like to say that some of my mistakes I enjoy so much that I intend to keep repeating them for as long as I live.
But that’s a lot of bull, too. I don’t enjoy making mistakes. I don’t know anyone who does. So why do I say I enjoy making certain mistakes and want to repeat them?
I think it has something to do with laughing at myself, as a way of making light of things. Seeing the funny side of life can make most burdens seem a bit lighter.
That’s why I chose this book’s title: Please Help Me Lift Something Heavy. Thank You! The heavy something I want you to help me lift is whatever you are carrying.
That’s right. I want you to help me lift whatever you are carrying.
My mission is to get you to laugh at my silliness. And to recognize that my silliness is a lot like yours.
So, guess what? If you can see the similarities between you and me, and I get you to laugh at me, then how big a leap is it to get you to laugh at yourself?
And then you might join me in a salute to Jimmy Buffett for the reminder: “. . . if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.”
But there’s more in this book than just the opportunity to chuckle at my foolish predicaments. And yours. What I also want you to find in these true stories is: reason to hope.
Hope for whom? Hope for what? Well, f’rinstance, hope for people who keep trying to get it right. Like you and me.
Hope for the ones who are locked in by their own limitations but who keep trying to discover enough about themselves so that they might some day break free. Like you and me.
And when the end of the road appears to be just around the next bend, and the pounding question in your heart is, “What’s my life been all about?” this clear answer may be heard from above:
“It’s all about love. Giving it and receiving it. Which is what you’ve been working on ever since you were a kid. And everyone else. To live a life of love.
“Or, at least, to try your best. In lots of ways.
“For some, this means never giving up trying to live life right. Which is to love and be loved.
“Most of you never do get it perfect, but when you try hard enough I see your accomplishment as good.
“No, don’t sit down. I know you’ve worked hard but this is no time to rest. I’m waiting up here for you. Just around the next bend in the road.”
❦
And, remember, dear reader, this book is as much about you as it is about me.
That’s the truth.
Rick Gelinas
. . . and here’s my favorite truth:
“The only real failure in life
is the failure to try.”
—by that famous Greek philosopher, Anon.☺
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