The Key To Life

I decided this week on the title of my first book... "The Key To Life." Cliche? Yes, but that's only the beginning. The cover of this book will be me - more specifically, a bust shot of me - smiling really big with my hand under my chin.

I've been talking about this for a few days, and much to my dismay, Jenn sent me a picture today on my phone to let me know that my idea was already in use by the gem of a man... Joel Osteen on the cover of his book, "Become A Better You." I had the image in this post originally, but when I published it, it just consumed the page. Those teeth... oooff! The only difference between Joel's cover and mine is that he is FOR REAL! Are you kidding me?!

So, cliche title and cliche picture. You might be saying to yourself, "Cole, don't you know what you're doing?" And that's exactly the point. I've decided this week that the key to life is self-awareness. It doesn't matter how much money you've made (Joel) or how many books you've sold or - on the other end -how eccentric you want to appear. If you're living in a world apart from reality, people just aren't going to take you - or what you have to say - seriously. I mean, think about this guy.



David Cross is a genius, but Tobias Funke? He's an Analrapist (accent on the SECOND "a" ).

One of my biggest fears is that the exact people who need to read the book will never pick it up. In addition, people who don't need to read the book are the ones that will, thus making them more cynical toward the oblivious among us. So, I have some thinking to do because I want the book to be a more than solely humorous. I want it to have a point.

Here's the deal, there are people around you and me everyday that just don't have a clue. Whether it's the person who walks really slowly down the middle of the grocery isle or that girl on national television singing her heart out to a laughing television audience of 10 million (aka, the people reading Joel's book) - something must be done. We live in an age that tells people they can do whatever they want if they just put their minds to it. That's ridiculous. You can't grow wings and take flight. You can't superman jump over a tall building. And the people who are creative enough to get around the laws of gravity don't need pop psychology to cheer them on.

The fact is that people CAN do a lot of things, but things don't get done by willing them into existence. Things get done because people discover what they are good at, and they chase after those things with all their hearts.

So, if it's singing you want to do, make sure it's not painful. If it is, sing in the shower. If you want to write a book, make sure you can spel write and that you use grammar good. If you can't, write a song. Push your limits, but find the limits that are worth pushing.