“The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.” Henry Kissinger

I am sure he said it in a context that was different from what I take this saying to mean.  FWIW, for some reason, it’s been haunting me.  Sometimes I see it as pessimistic, sometimes I see it as optimistic, Grin and bear it.  This is what existentialism is distilled down to, at least in my book, “Life sucks, but you’ve got to deal with it.”  When Goethe said, “God is dead,” I believe that’s what he meant: Regardless whether there is God or not, human beings need to take responsibilities for our actions.  Accountability, and the will to see things through.

As I tell my kids on a nearly daily basis: You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.