Spite and Caffeine Count as Coping

Pep Talk from Ossie

(Still Just a Skull, Still Smarter Than Half the Afterlife)

So. Everything’s going wrong, huh?

You lost something significant. A job. A grant. An opportunity. Maybe just your last shred of patience.
And now it feels like the universe has placed a two-foot-thick brick wall in your way, with no doors, no notice, and someone possibly standing behind it whispering, “You should’ve planned better.”

I have indeed been there.
Not literally, that is. I’m a talking skull and no longer go for walks. But on a spiritual level? I've collided with the wall, and had a "Failure" flag flung over my bones.

Yeah, I’ve been there.

Let me tell you something, love: If all you did today was sip on a hot beverage, mutter curses under your breath, and continue breathing against all the cues to stop?

That’s coping.
That’s surviving.

Spite is a truly powerful fuel.
Caffeine is a potion.

And you? You’re the scrappy little soul dragging yourself around that brick wall with nothing but stubbornness and a mug that says “I’m fine” while everything burns behind you.

Today, you don't have to jump over the wall.
When people ask, "What's next?" you don't need a strategy, a contingency plan, or the appropriate words to respond.
Sometimes, what’s next is: “I’m still here. So deal with it.”

Let the world be uphill.
Let the bricks be thick.
You're more resilient than the ones throwing up walls. And you'll figure out a way around it, if not now, then soon. Or maybe you’ll go through it. And if they try to build another wall, perhaps you’ll bring a sledgehammer and some very loud opinions.

And if anyone tells you that spite and caffeine aren’t healthy coping tools?
Kindly direct them to the sarcastic skull on the velvet pillow.
I’ll be here, unblinking, waiting to prove them wrong.

- With Love, Ossie

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