rap it up folks. Party’s over. Closing time. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. It’s time to grow up. Where are you lacking? Dive into your fears of failure. Take the challenge. Fail. Fail a lot. Fail more. Learn the lessons you need to learn. Face your fears of failure. What happens after failure. How do you recover from failure? Picking yourself back up after failure. Are you willing to continue putting effort into something that’s failing? Failing business? Failing marriage? Failing health?
It’s time to put your skills to the test. Testing yourself. Standards. Standardization. The measure of things. Things get hard. Everything takes more time and more effort. There’s no easy way out. There’s so much work to do and so little time. Put away things that aren’t useful. Stop wasting time. Stop frittering your life away. Working night and day. Nose to the grindstone
Life and work intermix like never before. Our social standing is evident everywhere. Everything informs our public identity. Steel cages. Prisons. Self-made prisons. A prison of your success. Golden shackles. It’s lonely at the top. Are you a serious business person? Are you built to last? Are you planning long term? What’s your business plan? It is sustainable? Have you saved for retirement? Who will you be at 80 years old? Tick tock.
Grumpy old wizard. Grumpy old men. Grandpa. Papa. Godfather. Padrino. Hermit. Masters. Mastery. Tasks and task-masters. Suits. The CEO. Wisdom. The peak. The summit. The climb. Are you prepared for the climb? Do you have all the necessary tools? Are you skills polished enough? Do you know the right authorities to advance? Who’s the boss of the next level you need to clear? Do you have enough life left to finish your mission? Time is running out. Thou shall not pass!!! Who do you need acceptance from to pass? Who’s blocking your way? What obstacles are blocking your path to success?
Austerity. Sternness. High highs and low lows. Up at the peak, down in the depths. Loneliness. Isolation. Separation. Gloomy. Glum. Sad. Melancholy. Strict. No wiggle room. Old age. Fears of old age. The population is ageing. My mom’s getting old. My dad’s getting old. I’m getting old. The gravity of the situation. Nobody’s laughing. Get your shit together. No, we’re not gonna let it all hang out. We’re going to suck it in. Keep your chin up. Keep a stiff upper lip. Do your duty. It’s all utilitarian. All black outfits. Uniforms. Keep it simple. Keep it basic. Stick to the classics.
Standards. Where are your standards? What are you getting a little slack about? Pick up the slack! This is a good time to advance your career and connect with established people in your field. Do you know who the authorities are? Who is in charge here? What is their authority based on? Years of work? Word of mouth? Hocus pocus? Working towards security in an area of life. Focus on material issues. How are you going to make ends meet?
Emotions disappears for a while. Who cares? Cremation of Care. Where’s Cancer in all this? No outer planets in Cancer. Do you have planets in Cancer? Sentimentality takes a backseat. Where’s your family? Nothing’s funny. Nobody’s laughing. Things are serious. What aren’t you taking seriously enough? Maybe you’ve been winging it too much? Get practical. Do the steps. Don’t lose your connection and humanity.
What is stringing you along without a reward. Stringing someone else along with no intention of providing a reward. Cutting ties. Cutting strings. Keeping traditions. Maintaining the status quo. Conforming to social norms to get ahead. What do you do for a living?
Do you have good limits or bad limits? Constructive limits or limiting limits? What are you trying to achieve? What have you achieved? Give yourself some credit! Take stock. Feel good. Feel accomplished. Make yourself a merit badge. What are some achievements you’ve achieved that people don’t really think of as an achievement?
Prestige. Where do you want to gain more prestige in your life? Where do you crave respect? Where do you deserve to be respected by authorities and as an authority? Have you done the work to deserve respect? Do you have the credentials? Did you pass the exam? Why do you deserve respect? Do you have the humility to respect others who have done the work? Where have you put in the work? Is it time for a reward? How much longer are you willing to work on something if there are no rewards?
Have you peaked in certain areas? Is it all downhill from here? Is there a different mountain you should be climbing? Are you barking up the wrong tree? How hard are you working? Is that all you can do? Have you ever really pushed yourself? What are your limits? Pushing yourself to the limit. Take it to the limit. Where is the end? Is the end in sight? Is the goal in site? Is the goal worth the work? Will it even matter if you succeed by the time you succeed? Dangling transparent carrots.
Success is delayed, again. You can’t always get what you want. Be happy you have a glass. I want it now! Too bad, Veruca. Get organized. Follow-through. Follow the rules. Duck your head. Bow to the rulers. Winter is Coming. Tow the line. Party line. 1-800-IAM-TIRED.Workaholic. Workaholix. Why so serious? Need more discipline? Hire a dominatrix. Brush your teeth, goddammit.
Be patient. Let things develop. There’s still time for maturity. Do your gray hairs match your age? Do your gray hairs match your level of wisdom? Hag. Witch. Crone. Bag of bones. Ageing is depressing. Period of depression. Retreat. Inner Winter. Barren. Desolate. Bleak. Lonely. Striving. Struggling. The five of pentacles. Getting real. Repealing the unrelenting insistence on being positive 24/7. Some things don’t work out, folks!
Having a hard time growing up. Having a hard time accepting responsibility. How much responsibility do you have to take on anyway? Where’s the measure? Where’s the gauge? Are you doing your fair share of the work? Training day (for about 3 years). Are the master or the apprentice? Do something real. Long vision. Long decisions. Long division. Stuck in time. Frozen in time. A stitch in time. A Wrinkle in Time.
