Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

by Alexandra Potter

Embrace your sense of humor, don’t ever take yourself too seriously, every day is another chance to laugh instead of cry, and when nothing is certain, everything is a hell of a lot less scary when you make fun of it. Amen.

I remember when I was learning to drive and I could never pass. My instructor used to try to coax me into putting my foot on the accelerator and going for it, cajoling me with cries of “it’s all clear!” but I would stick resolutely to the slow lane, trundling along. Which is basically a metaphor for my life right now. I’m firmly stuck in the slow lane. Actually, no, it’s worse: I’ve pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, map splayed over the steering wheel, wondering where the hell I’m supposed to be going.