There’s a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown is lying in bed talking to Snoopy, who’s lying atop the covers at Charlie’s feet. Charlie says, “Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Is life a multiple choice test or is it a true or false test?'” Next, in the closing panel, Charlie says, “Then a voice comes to me out of the dark and says, ‘We hate to tell you this, but life is a thousand word essay.'”

It should make sense that the older you get the easier life gets. What I mean is, you’ve got your dumb mistakes behind you. You have the advantage of experience. You are wiser, more seasoned. But the problem is that whatever help comes from being experienced and wiser gets counteracted by the fact that life’s issues become more complex. When I lie awake at night, I think back to the days…