Pray

Joe has had problems that seemed to cast their shadow over the entire stretch of his life. Every time he would try to face them down, he would find himself trembling and fearful, unable to do more than walk away with hollow victories or empty promises to himself. He could not separate himself from things that brought him either to tears or to his knees, too ashamed to face his friends and peers.

What happens to you if your pride and self-confidence lies in your friendships, but no matter how hard you try to hold on, some friends just slip away, becoming more and more distant? What if you don't feel your life is what it's meant to be, and you find yourself running away from your problems, but you still can't bring yourself to stop playing games because you're so damned good at it (Joe once got an honorable mention in a certain gaming magazine, and has beaten some really pro people in a diverse range of game genres.)? What if you find yourself petrified and stumbling at something that seems to come so naturally to people in your community?

It's really funny how, even though Joe spent so much time and energy worrying about these problems, it was easy for him to let them go, in the end. He doesn't play games now (the only exception is if it's the occasional game with friends). He spares less thoughts for those who won't spare any for him, and tries to be closer to those who are still willing to be close to him. He's tried praying openly recently and it wasn't as terrible as he thought it'd be.

Most of you reading this probably know who Joe is, but for the sake of his dignity I have used a non-distinct alias. Joe's hoping that the changes will do him a little bit of good, that he'll be a better person for them. He's also hoping that he doesn't go to university and end up meeting a hot gamer chick, and finds himself unable to impress her with his L33T gaming skills because he's rusty.

Joe would also like to let all of you know that he thinks that, even though he appreciates all of you for being for good and faithful friends (as well as your various good points e.g. tons of bootleg music and videos, cookie making skills, ability to sleep at 20 degrees Celsius and not die, successful future careers...), you should never to have feel more confident about your abilities than you are about who you are. Remember, you have Joe in your Facebook. That means he approves of you in some way of another. Always remember that when you are feeling down.

Unless of course, you are a liar, an arrogant person, or a smoker. (You'll get this if you've ever read Teenage magazine.) Joe thinks that you should be a lot less confident about your total life span if you are any combination of two of the above. Joe likes to invest in friends who plan to live past at least 55.