Anyone who tells you that "life is what you make of it" is lying to you. There has never been such a statement of untruth since "I am not a crook". If you are kidnapped by masses of men with superior weapons to your own and forced into a lifetime of slavery overseas, life is not what you made it. If your farmhouse and crops are destroyed by a tornado, life is not what you made it. If the one person who ever made you truly happy dies of AIDS or is beaten to death by bigots in Wyoming, life is not what you made it.

No, life is not what you make it. Other people may concede this, yet remain firm in the belief that it is up to the individual to "make the most of what you've got". Such a belief relies on the democratic myth that all people are equal, and thus, having "got" exactly the same things, can make exactly the same life. The reality is that everybody is not equal. Given a modest sum of money, some people could make a fortune of it, through investment or enterprise. It is not likely that I could do the same. Given a pen, paper, and larynx, some people can move millions. Others cannot.

The value of an opportunity is directly related to the ability of those faced with the opportunity to take it. If tomorrow I was offered an obscenely opulent contract to play professional football, try as I might, I would, and could, make very little of it. Were Jimi Hendrix born to the wrong parents, or in the wrong city (let alone country), or at the wrong time, a gift of a guitar may have been totally lost on him, and substantially fewer people would have kissed the sky.

Another popular myth is that persistence, faith, hope, work, and optimism are an infallible recipe for success. Some remain convinced that if one simply refuses to stay defeated, one's inevitable destiny is success. Most who hold this belief were born into wealthy, peaceful neighbourhoods and handed jobs or money by their fathers' company.

No, if I had persisted at a recent employment I had acquired, which was guaranteed to me for 3 months, if I had not thrown up my hands, given up, and quit, I would not have sought out and acquired the two far more suitable and satisfying employments which I subsequently obtained.

Faith will always let you down, unless tempered with illogical allowances or blindnesses. Any religion proves this by saying things equivalent to "God acts in mysterious ways." Convenient, eh? Any deity's inexcusable absence in the face of earthly atrocity is excused as "mysterious". "Gee, it sure is mysterious that God wasn't around during WWII." Right.

The blindness which allows the spirit to soar on the wings of faith also allows the eyes to ignore holes in those wings which may be cause for an avoidable violent landing. Whatever the late Matthew Sheppard put his faith in let him down. Now he is with us no longer, and no faith can explain that to us.

Hard work is no Canada Savings Bond either. I wonder how many successful people began on their route to success by saying "I wonder if I could be doing better elsewhere," and laying down their shovels. Many, I would wager.

Myths abound these days. People need myths. This world is too horrible to accept without them. And yet knowledge that myths are indeed myths often seems to help people succeed. We all must learn that Old Saint Nick is actually just Old Saint Weird Popular Cultural Myth. People who have not learned this by twenty years of age are probably convinced that they are Old Saint Nick, and that's way outta my league.

Hey, I'm not saying life can't be fun. My life is a blast. The key is to be smart about it. Think about what you believe in. Think deeply, broadly, and repeatedly. In the spirit of mass cultural hysteria, I offer one last word on faith by way of conclusion: Titanic.