This piece may come across as far-too-pessimistic for some readers’ tastes. Likewise, I’m likely guilty of at least some degree of embellishment in order to make a point, at least in this particular piece.

Obviously, some readers may disagree with some of the contentions I am making. In the end, however, I feel that, even if I might be overstating my point somewhat, that point nevertheless remains a valid and ultimately fair one. I also think most of what I am trying to say is reasonably clear within the context of the piece, and likely doesn’t need any sort of exhaustive discussion.

With regards to a couple of the cultural references that I made, and which might not be immediately clear or apparent to many readers, the two biggest ones are as follows: Firstly, there is some small measure of inspiration from Leonard Cohen's song "Everybody Knows", which appeared on his 1988 album: "I'm Your Man". Secondly, I'll readily admit that I’ve always had a hard time swallowing various iterations of the statement: "It's never too late to start all over again." It’s always had the same (figuratively) bitter and ashy taste and smell associated with it that I tend to get from a lot of other pop psychology twaddle. One particular well-known use of the phrase that always immediately comes to mind for me is how hard-rock group Steppenwolf used it as the basis for their song: “Never Too Late”, which was on their 1969 album: “At Your Birthday Party”. In Steppenwolf’s defence, however, if one reads the lyrics in their entirety, they do temper the message, somewhat.

But, I digress. It’s been my rather bitter observation that the older you get, the more subjective that particular statement becomes. Likewise, the more years and sequential life-failures you rack up, the narrower the scope of the concept "start all over" becomes. At a certain point, "start all over" becomes more and more absurd. A certain point, there is no "starting over", at least in the sense of any sort of major decision with regards to a change in life-direction/aim/focus. No, after a certain point, there is only survival, simply because both time and reality are merciless in their sheer indifference.