Bill & Teds Bogus Journey probably saved my life

I have been pressed to the absolute edge lately and really have found life pointless. I’m so stressed about everything all the time, and literally everything I try to do is an absurd struggle. I’d seen *Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey* a bunch of times but, recently, after choking on a fat piece of grape hubba bubba, it hit way harder this time. Stressed, cooked, and generally feeling like the universe had me in a headlock, the movie really showed me that it doesn’t matter as much as I keep telling myself it does. More importantly, it also showed me that when I die, I may not actually have to go quietly. I could haggle with Death. I could challenge him. I could buy myself some time. Somewhere between nearly dying over the dumbest possible object and whatever happens in the borderlands between life and death, I met Death himself and did the only sensible thing available to me: I played Battleship with him, because I saw that in the movie. And now I’m still here. Honestly, that experience did more for me than any self-help insight has in years. I’m stressing myself out so much all the time when, in reality, I could be taking all of this a lot less seriously. I do not need to act like every shortcoming is a moral failure or every choking event is the end of the world. If I can survive choking on Hubba Bubba by turning my death into a board game with the grim reaper, maybe the stakes are not quite as high as I keep making them. I’ve been stressed for years because I’m not a jacked, wealthy genius yet before the age of 30. The reality is, I could be a laid-back guy playing air guitar with my friend and still be the same level of alive & eating Hubba Bubba. In fact, based on recent events, I could also apparently be a laid-back guy who occasionally beats Death at Battleship and buys himself another stretch of existence (and gum.) Is it important for me to have bigger goals for myself? Absolutely. But it’s not the end of the world if I don’t achieve everything to the extreme. It’s about whether or not life was worth living. Legacy doesn’t matter, our lives all end, it’s only about whether or not you enjoyed the time you had, and, failing that, whether you were at least annoying enough to make Death put the reaper down for a minute and play a few rounds.