Bad Nights

Day 317 / 366

I must have written at least a dozen blogs in the last five years with this title. The title is also the title of a song that I heard on the TV show Louie. It’s a song that I go back to when I feel particularly sad.

I mentioned to someone today that when we were kids, we used to see that grown-ups were always serious or in a bad mood. It’s only after we grow up ourselves that we find out how tough things can get. And how hard it can be to remain cheerful.

That don’t work
You can’t say goodbye
You’re too young to die
You’re too old to cry

Back when I was in college, there were tough times every now and then. But they were never hopeless. There was always a way out, it’s just that it was a tough way. Nowadays, I run into messes in my life on a regular basis, and I can never see a way out. I would be happy to work hard towards a solution if there only was one. It’s crises like these that run you down badly. Maybe it’s just a part of growing up, dealing with shit that is way out of your abilities.

The reason I listen to the song, however, is that it has a positive ending.

The ones who see the bad nights to end
Say they know just
How a bad night
Turns to day

If 2024 has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes all you’ve got to do in life is to hold on. Take it one day at a time. If you just don’t give up, things have a way of working themselves out eventually. Bad nights do turn into days.