Roll the dice

"If you're going to try,
go all the way.
Otherwise don't even start.
It may mean losing girlfriends,
wives, family, jobs
and maybe even your head.
It may mean not eating for three or
three or four days,
maybe it means freezing to death
on a park bench.
Maybe it means jail, humiliation,
disdain and isolation.
Isolation is the prize.
Everything else only serves to
test your endurance,
your real will to do it.
And you will.
Despite the rejection and
the slim odds,
and it will be better than anything
you could ever imagine.
If you're going to try,
go all the way.
There is no feeling like it.
You will be alone with the gods
and the nights will burn with flames.
You will hold the reins of life
to the perfect laughter,
it's the only thing worth
worth fighting for."

Charles Bukowski
(1920-1994)