I don’t have that many good memories with my “father”. They’re not exactly all bad, but there’s very few that actually stand out.
He was really strict when it came to food though, and I do remember a lot of times when I was told to eat stuff I didn’t like. It really baffled me how he could stomach this stuff so easily.
“How do you eat this stuff?”
And I’ll never forget what he said to me. He told me “Jonny-boy,” in a tone that only proved how we had no connection whatsoever, “I think of JFK.”
He resumed eating with a big smug look on his face. No doubt, he was proud about his answer: JFK.
I get by the difficulties in life by thinking of the guy who had his life cut short.

It didn’t make any sense at the time. And, 17 years later it still doesn’t make any sense.
But, that’s okay because I’ve learned the reasons don’t have to make sense. In fact, often you’re better off not having any reason at all.
I think a lot of people get caught up in trying to find the reason– the meaning behind it all.
- If I have X,Y,Z in place, then I can really relax.
- If I meet so-and-so, I’ll be really happy.
- If I can do what-and-what, that’ll be my proof.
It’s a very logical, very sequential way of thinking where things have to be connected.
But being human, it just doesn’t work. Instead of being at peace, we end up with more worries. More worries, more problems– that’s the Snoop Dogg Lion (wait, is he Dogg again?) line, right?
I’ve talked to people so exhausted they thought, “I’ll never be happy.” And the more they try to connect a reason to their happiness, the more I believe they won’t ever find it.
That’s the key to hone in on here: find a way to be happy… for no reason.