To our kids and young peopel writing in....

[rc409]

Guys, at 50, think of me as your cool grandfather. I am 50, but still race motorcycles and enjoy seeing how far over 200 mph I can go. Sometimes, that even on a racetrack. Other times, I'm the guy who blasts by your car. You parents presume thats a goddamn teenager who just scared the shit out of them, and thats fine.

My bi-polar is a raving success story. I have the doctors lining up to kiss my ass. I long since went over that line of "we can fix him" and its now way more, "Fuck it, do what you can..."

Being 50 just means I have a better vocabulary, and finely honed skills at getting out of trouble.

When you guys write in, with your deepest, darkest secrets, I usually chuckle. Knowing full well I've done way, way worse and never had the guts to admit it.

Theres way too much talk about suicide. Please, for just the next few years, take that idea off the table. I'll try to explain why right now.

Look in the mirror. Somewhere along the last few years, you guys gained 30 lbs and got tall. You girls changed into ladies.

Let s just be logical for a minute. Your bodies started making chemicals to create this change. The way it does this is not perfect. Some get too much, others too little. But even still, it totally fucks us up for years to come...However, if your age ends with "teen" chalk a lot of your bad experiences to this process. By the 20's its starts to average out, but until then, just hang on, please.

Yes, most your parents are fucked up. Why? Because most are just older versions of children. Unless they have been forced to take a look at mental health, they know nothing about it. I always wondered how much better it would have been to be the second alcoholic kid.

As far as getting along with them, you really are not supposed to. Nature designs us this way. Want proof? Look outside at your city or community. Notice we dont have 4-5 houses with 200 rooms in them. Thats what would happen if we enjoyed each and every moment with our parents. No, we have small homes that are capable of holding one family, or we are of Mexican decent. Which, with all that love and support around, may not be half bad.

Give time a chance to be your friend. You will find out you are not nearly as fucked up as you think you are.

True story. I went to school with a kid who did have relations with his cat. Twice. At least .Documented and verified. In modern times, Id be able to post pictures.

He now drives a carbon fiber skinned corvette (summer) and a 100,000 Escalade in the winter. He is a manager for one of the large stores in my area and I see him all the time. Makes huge amounts of money. I believe he is married and has kids. Yes, I desperately want to ask about cats, but cant find a way to this thats dignified.

Seriously, this dude fucked his cat. Twice. and is hugely successful. He will be at the Superbowl this year. I wanted to tell him, today, that I was calling ahead to warn the Panther mascot, but I did'nt. Yet. That may be the icebreaker i was looking for.

[Fargin]

Maybe it's time to let "sleeping dogs" lie.

I agree with time.

I lived a completely hopeless existence for much of my adult life, miraculously I held on. At 39 something changed and I took serious ownership over my mental health. I've never really felt this passion or determination before, but accepting it and owning it, means that I've changed my perspective on my mental "challenges." I don't hate myself for my anxiety, I just go with the flow. If it peaks too high, I just go: "It's out of my hands." If it shows itself in milder versions, I can take it into consideration or gently push it aside.

I think, I had to take the long and hard way around, before I accepted my mental configuration and then I knew I had to change my perspective.