About

Here's the deal folks. Life is hard. I know. It's rough. If you're like most people you've probably been through enough hard crap during your life to fill a dozen angsty teenage novels. If you're one of the rare lucky ones who has had a charmed mortal journey so far, you just wait. Your turn is coming. Some day soon good old lady luck is gonna turn around and punch you in the stomach. And the rest of us will probably laugh.

A little.

And then we'll pick you up, brush you off, pat you on the back and send you on your way with a lunchbox and a few words of encouragement and advice we picked up back when we were down for the count too.

You can do this. Give it time. Things get better. Trust yourself. Never give up.

Life isn't as bad as you think.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Secondhand Lions. It's fabulous. Heartwarming. Beautiful. And it's so funny that if you don't laugh out loud while watching it you don't have a soul. Everyone should see it. Everyone.

My absolute favorite moment in the movie is when Uncle Hub (played by Robert Duvall) recites for his young great-nephew Walter (Haley Joel Osment at his awkward, voice-cracking best) a part of his "what every boy needs to know about being a man" speech. It goes thusly:

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good. That honor, courage and virtue mean everything; that power and money... money and power mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil. And I want you to remember this.... that love....true love never dies! Remember that boy... remember that. Doesn't matter if it is true or not, a man should believe in those things , because those are the things worth believing in...... got that ? "

This tiny little speech from one of the most underappreciated movies of all time has gotten me through more hard times than I can say. It's one of the beautiful things in the world. This dumb little line, word written by someone just trying to make a good movie and tell a good story and sell movie tickets, has become a sort of mantra in my life. Teenage me kept going some days because of this speech, because it told me that good things are worth believing in even if they don't always work out. I believe in honor and courage and virtue and goodness and true love. Even if sometimes life is only full of betrayal and weakness and fear and hate, the good things are still out there. Believe in them. 

Can't find them? Here, let me show you.