He needed to travel, to be interesting

and when he spoke of his trips

they yawned,

they said, “We weren’t listening.”

Everything he tried to do, folded him into a shoebox

He took pictures

on the beach, with beautiful women

and they said, “Trade-in your truck for a motorcycle,”

and he did.

He got a high-powered job

dealing with dishonest people, for a living

and the hours, stole from him

Many envied his money and position

there was no time for friends

He surrounded himself with people

just like himself

but they didn’t like him

and come to think of it, he didn’t either.

This is a lesson, born in the guts of every man

if you feel your intestines tearing you to shreds

your stomach

tied-up in knots

stop eating

what they feed you

You can have the money

You can have the friends

but “interesting”

is something

that relies

on you knowing

what you want

and it doesn’t care

what other people want—

This, is the great mystery…

when you stop worrying

what they think,

people watch

You have to take risks—and then the attacks will come

and you can’t crawl into your shell

It takes courage, to live the life that you want

let them live in their own hell

while you walk

in a different direction.