I'm at the point where I'm no longer surprised when things don't go the way I think they should.

For instance, a director of a movie is not trying to make a bomb. He doesn't start out by telling the investors "I want to make the worst movie of the year." The same for a book publisher who's not in business to add to the forever growing pile of wood pulp.

As I was a kid growing up, my plan wasn't to grow up as skinny as I could. I wanted to be husky, not a beanpole.

Our investments go down, our jobs fizzle, and a lady who told us last week she'd love us forever runs off with a guy she hasn't seen for ten years.

These things aren't an indication of failure. They aren't roadblocks. There are plenty of them around and they are just the unexpected that we should have been expecting all along after the Golden Years.