The young man wanted me to give him some advice about writing

he found out, I write every day

“What’s your secret?” He asked. “How do you stay so disciplined?”

“It’s not discipline,” I told him. “It’s love.”

I wake-up at the beginning of the day, and I ask

“What matters more than anything? I’ll do that.” That way, when I’m lying on the pillow at night

I’ll be able to sleep.

Each day, is stolen from us, or it belongs to us

I am a greedy person, so I think philosophically about my possessions.

Earlier,

a young man asked me what he could do to cure his depression

He’s on anti-depressants and he checks-in with his psychiatrist

I told him to focus on the little things

that he can control: vitamins, exercise, sleep, friends, and retention

He told me, he can’t retain, because he has a girlfriend

He knows I don’t have a girlfriend,

and I’m retaining.

It’s a defense mechanism and a blind spot for him

that renders change, impossible.

The other guy in our group told us,

he wasn’t as Godly as we were.

He’s a mediator—

a guy who wants everybody to get along.

Here—I am giving some honest life-changing advice

and they want to agree to disagree

They don’t get it.

If something works, and you do it,

you can’t deny it.

If you offer theoretical wisdom

to somebody

they almost always deny it.

I have quit trying to help other people

I help myself, mostly

because that’s where I have the most influence

I can see the changes—

intimately.

And occasionally, I am called, “Selfish!”

I am the kind of fish who doesn’t swim in schools

I swim in the dark water

I look for men who can give me advice

at the bottom

I take it.

They,

are in the black

they find their way by wisdom

They don’t venture up to the clear water

where the little fishes want to be taught

There are many readers

and few

writers

who do

anything about it.