I have noticed as I get older that I get more satisfaction out of tackling really really difficult things, rather than gravitating to those things that have always come easiest for me, such as Art and Writing (which is what I actually do for a living). These days, the more "impossible" something seems, the more satisfying it turns out to be.

For my example, I was always the world's worst Math student. (Some of you out there will be saying "Oh, no, I was the worst!" but please trust me—I was utterly hopeless!) I can make a half-decent drawing or painting, but I would literally turn white at the thought of facing any task involving numbers.

So, when I turned 30, I decided to really try to learn Math once and for all—from the very beginning. Yup, I'm talking about starting with Elementary School Math.

I found an excellent teacher, who spent time providing a complete review of all the basics, and then I worked and worked and worked through every single step of every single question until I finally got it.

Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division . . . and oh, god Fractions! Decimals! Exponents, Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry . . . and on and on . . . for 3 years until I completed University Prep Pre-Calculus (Grade 12) with a respectable grade of 88%. This remains one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. (And my husband, a real math whiz, still tells me how cool he thinks it is that I did this.)

But I must emphasize that NONE of it came easy, even the basics. But once I finally grasped what each concept was really about, the next steps became much less intimidating. At a certain point, I realized that I could "do math," even some of the more advanced concepts, if I took the time to try to understand it.

Since then, I have moved on to courses in Physics and Chemistry . . . all just purely for a wierd kind of "fun." And I have been doing pretty good at those too, much to my own amazement. I'm not "acing" any of it—I won't ever win a Nobel Prize or even a place on the Dean's List, but I am GETTING it, slowly but surely, and a whole new way of looking at the world is revealing itself. It takes practice, practice, practice, but it's fascinating and I love it. And I couldn't have done either of these new things without getting comfortable with the Math.

This Fall I turn 41 and am planning to sign up for Calculus.

I don't "need" to do any of this for my job, or to get into an academic program. It's all just for me.

I should add that I am well past the age where I feel self-conscious about doing something that others might consider so obviously "nerdy" or a waste of time, or about being one of the older students in the class . . . oh, well, they can go back to their TV-watching or whatever . . . I have studying to do . . . studying I WANT to do.

So, LW, keep playing the guitar, even though right now you think you are not "good enough" at it. Yes, it is difficult, but that is part of what makes it so worthwhile.

And it is BEAUTIFUL, which is more than enough reason to pick it up and PLAY at every available opportunity. This is really what life is all about.

. . . the only purpose of work is so we can live. We don't live to work.

EVERYBODY needs something in their life that gives them joy. Work is what we do to create circumstances that allow that to happen. Nothing else has any meaning unless your life has joy.

And if work/commuting to work interferes with the important things in life: like family, friends, eating good meals together, laughing, making music, making art, enjoying your home, developing as a person . . . then I think it's time to find other work.

Anything else is just wasting your life as a slave. And It's all over in the blink of an eye.

That was very sweet of you to say.

The best advice I ever read was in a book written by an artist by the name of Alex Grey.

His 4 year old daughter included this gem:

"How to Be a Great Artist"

1. Do Your Best

2. Be Yourself

3. Never Give Up

I think that just about covers it.

. . . the bed-wetting might be a hint that there is a problem.