Doing Good

I’m adore advice columns. My newest fave is Cary Tennis’s Since You Asked (http://www.salon.com/life/since_you_asked/). I love his spin on things. What I’ve noticed since picking up his column is how many of the LWs (that’s “letter writers” in advice column slang – yes, there’s advice column slang) are experiencing a problem that grows of existential angst. Turns out life agita is not just for Woody Allen. It’s not so much the bad ex, nowhere job, pushy parents or life goal confusion that throws people. It’s that “who am I, where am I, what am I doing” crisis that just makes anything from molehill to mountain seem unmanageable.

I’ve made it through my mid-30s existential angst (thank the powers that be), but I’m expecting my mid-40s existential angst any minute now. I’m hoping I handle it better the second time around. I was a hot mess of moody the last time. Oh, I’ve still got the same problems, for the most part. But I’ve come to a Stuart Smalley level of coping about the whole thing.

I think the big thing I’ve come to realize is that the whole angst thing makes you feel powerless. Like you’re a little speck of dust in the grips of the mighty winds of time. And the only way to not feel powerless is to, and this sounds simplistic because it is, just do what you can. Abraham Lincoln said, “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. And that's my religion.” Pretty much sums it up.

Tomorrow, I’m going to talk about how that works for me. A two-part blog! It’s like my own little series. Very organized. And quite unlike me. But, let’s try something new and see what happens.