Ars longa, vita brevis

This is my second post today (Boxing Day, 2004). See below for the first. That means I'm thinking. Hard. Help me - I'm finally losing it. Or if I'm not, I'm thinking that I'm not. I'm also wondering whether this act of thinking means that either I think too much or that I actually AM losing it.
For some reason the jet-lag hasn't quite worn off yet. I'm beginning to wonder if it's actually the fatigue from this term settling in for the holidays. I'm paying my dues, I suppose. After all, I'm still technically a teenager - several hours of sleep (ought to be) required.
Is it worth the trouble? Getting up every day to the same roll call, the same drum beat that rolls the final curtain ever closer? So many people are led to drop from their high hopes to a lower ledge, to abandon their aspirations and awake from their dreams to a bitter reality that leaves a stinging after-taste for years. If this sounds like yet another exhortation to persevere, so be it - a clarion call for those with no real grievance except that which seems to be fabricated from the fragile imaginings that brings those puerile minds ever closer to the edge of sanity.
Yet - hark to my words - yet - the decision to try is ours. We can choose to keep reaching for the unattainable, to grasp that spindle of perfection beyond all the odds, great or small. Even those with rotten attitudes need not fear - regret is a byproduct of failing to try. My own life is filled with anguish and regret over things a far greater (or lesser, even) person would easily surmount; although greatly blessed in comparison to others, I still manage to wallow in the bitterness and disappointment of many past losses; depression clouds my judgement. I have to tell myself to breathe (and laugh!). Nevertheless, I strive. I strive for that goal because I have realised that this is the one thing that can never be taken away from me - the will to try. The arrogant, self-righteous and annoying shell falls away and no disability or obstacle can ever prevent me from reaching for whichever goal I try to attain. I may know deep within me that I shall never reach my target, but the will - yes, the will to get there is enough. Whether praised or derided, maimed or in health, alone or surrounded by adoration - I shall continue to try. Fault my logic if you will, but my endeavours will last to the very end. Whether time permits a legacy matters not to me - the essence is in the will - to strive till the very end.