How come, in a world teeming with possibilities, we can see nothing but thenegative? As I have traveled through High School Land, I have heard this repeatedmany times: "My life stinks!"

Okay, stop right there. Please,just once, tell me why and listen to yourself.

I have been one of thosepeople who constantly whines about his life. To me, this type of attitude is thegreatest disease coursing through our nation. Forget AIDS, forget drug addiction,forget alcoholism - the disease that haunts Generation X is a deficit of positiveenergy. This deficit can be seen in the music we listen to (Think about how manyof those bands sing about how low their self-esteem is!), the amount of drugs andalcohol we put into our systems, and the violence in our society that is, in allhonesty, cheered for.

Self-importance is killing us. I don't mean to saythat there aren't bad things happening to teenagers right now - there are. I amsaying that things aren't as horrible as we would like everyone to believe. Thereis no excuse for our incessant whining. THINGS CAN BE A LOT WORSE!

Hasanyone ever read Robinson Crusoe? In that novel, Crusoe learns that even thoughthings may look horrendous at the moment, they can always get worse. The greatestdiscovery he makes in his tropical paradise is that we should always seek out thegood wherever we are.

My solution to the Syndrome of the Unhappy Life isto understand that while things may be not so good, they could be a lot worse.Laugh in the face of your demons, dance around the fire that once burned you.Angst and anger imprison, so don't let them seduce you.

Don't give up. Ittakes a strong person to find real happiness. ?