Rule #279: Life Is Complicated
(aka The Lifetime Channel Rule)
As the holiday season rolls in, so does one of the most dangerous times of the year:
Lifetime Holiday Movie Season.
You know the formula: perfect-looking people face just the right amount of struggle, find inner strength, rediscover love, and wrap it all up—neatly and beautifully—in two hours (with commercials). The good guys win. The bad guys get what’s coming. Love conquers all.
But here’s the truth: Life is unfair. So stop chasing perfection.
I’ll be honest—I was kind of glad when Lori Loughlin went to jail. Not for the college admissions mess, but for all the damage she did through those polished Lifetime storylines. Those movies sell people a fantasy: a Martha Stewart holiday with perfectly folded napkins, a crackling fire, and a life where everyone learns their lesson in time for the happy ending.
But real-life Martha?
She went to prison for insider trading. She’s twice divorced. She now sells weed gummies with Snoop Dogg.
And she’s worth $400 million.
By every Lifetime measure, she should be losing.
She’s not.
Where’s the justice? Where’s the clean resolution? Why do the bad guys keep winning?
People probably look at my life—Michelob Ultra in hand, trail of bad decisions behind me—and wonder the same. But I’ve learned something in 62 years:
Perfection is a lie.
Karma doesn’t always clock in on time.
And you don’t get what you deserve—you get what you work through.
Look at Trump. Clinton. Tiger Woods.
They’ve done terrible things—and they’re still rich, powerful, and winning.
It doesn’t make sense.
Because life doesn’t make sense.
I’ve peeked under enough covers—literally and figuratively—to know what’s really going on in people’s lives. Infidelity. Addiction. Abuse. Secret families (four funerals, four discoveries). Real life isn’t glossy. It’s messy, painful, and deeply unfair.
But here’s how you survive it:
You stop chasing perfect.
You start chasing real.
That means looking past image and focusing on behavior.
How do people treat others?
Do they take responsibility?
Do they show up?
When I divorced, I didn’t argue about child support or assets. I paid what needed paying. I stayed involved. I made sure my kids got to college and knew I was in their corner.
Does that make me a great guy?
No.
Does that make me right in the marriage?
Also no.
But it was the right action. And that’s what matters.
In a world where the bad guys often win and the good guys fall short, here’s my advice:
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Don’t get consumed by the unfairness.
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Don’t idolize perfection—it’s manufactured.
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Set your own moral lines.
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Demand kindness and respect, always.
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Walk away when people cross your values—even if they look like they “have it all.”
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Focus on being there, not being perfect.
Because showing up after failure?
That’s more Lifetime-worthy than any scripted happy ending.
Life is unfair. So stop chasing perfection.
Start chasing what’s healthy. What’s real. What makes you better, not what makes you look good.
Because Lifetime movies promise love conquers all in 120 minutes.
Real life asks you to show up every damn day—flawed, late, hungover, broke—but still showing up.
And that? That’s the only real happy ending there is.
Love, Dad