What's your excuse?

It’s a kind of blanket, in your face, challenge you might make to someone who annoys you. Like, what’s your excuse for living?

This is a question that I, personally, have trouble with, since I can’t really convince myself that there is any legitimate excuse for me. Then I go on to tell myself I don’t need an excuse. That’s just a paradigm from religion. We must be good, and if we’re not good (however that is defined), then we don’t deserve to live.

But let’s say you do need an excuse. No one here does. However, let’s pretend we do for the purposes of this exercise. And nothing silly like “because I was born.” It has to come from your life—something you do that is sufficient to excuse your life.

And whatever it is, explain why that is a sufficient excuse. Like if you think your excuse is your children—then what good are your children that they justify your life? If you choose to answer this question, you don’t get away easy. I’m going to challenge you until you convince me it’s a good excuse.

Not that you have to answer, but then, you don’t have to even begin an answer in the first place. So if you decide to answer, please do an in-depth job of it. Don’t make me come tickle you with a jar of ants in your bed.