Normally I save these kind of posts for my Facebook wall nowadays and leave my FA for my art and basic status updates. But in light of an FA journal I just read, I do want to lay down some advice for all of you. Folks we all have our problems in life. They could be dealing with a dysfunctional family. Too many of us furries have that issue. Seems down right ubiquitous unfortunately. As good as my parents were to me and my brother, our family still went through our fair share of hell. So I feel for any of you out there dealing with family issues. Maybe those problems could be mental and emotional issues. I certainly have my own inner demons to deal with, namely stress and anxiety problems. That shit often fucks with me hardcore at any opportune time where I see a situation being far worse than it actually is, over analyzing a new scenario I find myself often hesitating to jump at something when I need to. I missed some prime opportunities because of that, Its the "What if's" that always hangs me up. So I feel for you on the dealing with inner demons. The problems could be financial issues. I operate on a shoe string budget myself. My family has had a roller coaster ride financially. I think the latter is a large reason why I have stress and anxiety problems. Point is we all have some kind of problems....something that tends to push us to our limits and beyond. In other words shit does get real for waaaaaaay too many of us furries out there. I think allot of us joined this fandom as a desperate attempt to get away from our IRL problems from both around us and within us.. Unfortunately for too many of us there seems to be no escaping it. No break.

Reality is you can't get away from your problems forever no matter how much you try. You can drink yourself into a stupor.Your issues are still gonna be there waiting for you to sober back up. You can get high on a can of Krylon spray paint and super glue fumes with a dash of Crystal Meth. Your problems will still be there when you come back down from that buzz. You can be the internet shitlord extraordinaire by making it your obsession to bully and torment people and get a thrill from making their lives a living hell, your problems are still gonna bitch slap you once that sense of power and gratification of destroying another person wears off. In short, you can do anything......ANYTHING.... to get away from your problems and they will still be there waiting for you once you snap back into reality.

Your problems will always be waiting for you because they will never go away until one of three things happens. One you resolve your issues, what ever they maybe, Two, if you cannot resolve your issues, live life as best you can by managing your issues and find work around's. Or three you do like what happened to the subject of the journal I just read...That would be cracking down the middle and end up killing himself and hurting others along the way. I'm not going to sugar coat this time. I'm not going to say it in my softer Tamias the Chipmunk way. I'm going to tell you like it is. Those are the only three avenues reality will give anybody facing life's challenges. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, and what your story is. That's it. Deal with it because that's the way it is.. Its entirely up to you and you alone as to which avenue you take. Its harsh. It seems unfair. It hurts. But if their is one thing I've learned in my nearly 45 years on this chunk of rock we call Earth, its often that the truth can be goddamn ugly.

However the truth is ugly ONLY if we do anything OTHER THAN accept the truth, learn from it, and act upon it to nothing short but the best of our abilities. Hiding from problems may give you a temporary reprieve. Lord knows everybody needs that fleeting moment of catching one's breath from time to time. But unless you want to end up the next statistic, you have got to do what ever it takes to survive and thrive in a world that is designed to fight you every step of the way. Rather you realize it your not, you are valid. You do matter. You have it in you what it takes to take on what life dishes out both good and bad. You just need to hack your way through the jungle of fear and self doubt to the point that you realize that fact.

Bottom line folks, you need to keep it together. Don't sit there and wallow in your own misery when something knocks you on your ass. You want to live? You want any chance to make it? You got to get back up and continue on as best as you can regardless if you successfully resolve what is challenging you or life does kick your ass from hell to breakfast . Because if you don't and you let your problems get the better of you, then you won't make it. Now I know these words are no magic bullet answer to solving your issues. If I had the answers to it all, I'd be living in paradise with sexy stud muffins and chicks answering my beckon call and I'd be sharing the bounty with you all. The point of all of this is, even if its written in the stone of destiny that you are to live a meager life barely hanging on for the rest of your days, at the very least don't give your problems the satisfaction of you giving up nor cracking down the middle. If you do at least that much. That tiny little once of effort, then when the grim reaper comes calling at the end of your life , you can at least leave this world with the satisfaction that you tried. I don't know about you. That alone is worth all the effort I have invested into keeping myself together as a person.