I don’t have children. Most days, I’m happy with that choice. Some days, however, I wish I had little people who I could mold into thoughtful and valuable individuals capable of positively affecting our future society. There are some hard truths that I would impart to them at a young age so by the time they were confronted by that reality, they wouldn’t feel quite so blindsided.

Life is not fair. I can hear you from here – ”Yes, and in other news, water is wet.” I know this is something that most of us as adults are acutely aware of. What I fail to understand is why we still insist on filling children’s heads with the fairytale notion that simple things like hard work and kindness always pay off in the end. Perhaps it’s because, even though it has been disproven time and time again, we continue to cling to this idea with the desperate hope that one day we’ll see that it’s true.

Turn on the news or scroll through your Facebook feed for just a few seconds and chances are that hope quickly dissipates, even if only temporarily. Social injustice, economic disparity, environmental catastrophes, political extremes – these are all fuels to the fire that incinerate whatever fleeting optimism we’re holding on to. These things hurt my heart as much as they do yours, but there are some days that what I find to be the most draining is being bombarded with the unfairness of my own personal universe. Maybe you feel the same way and are just too afraid of being accused of selfishness and a lack of perspective to say so. Well, today, I just don’t give a damn.

Who has an incompetent boss that gets paid the big bucks for your smart ideas and long hours?

Who has a friend who always remembers you when they need you and forgets you when they don’t?

Who is the black sheep of their family despite all attempts at making them proud?

Who is tired of seeing the mediocre and misguided efforts of others get rewarded while your passionate yet exhausted self is fighting to take just one step forward?

Does any of this sound familiar?

I wish someone would have made me realize how unfair life was before the truth of it smacked me in the face. What if we finally set aside our well-intentioned lies that good ultimately triumphs over evil and there is no substitute for hard work and you can do anything you put your mind to and all the rest of that inspirational mumbo jumbo? Instead, let’s start teaching kids that life is not fair and sometimes, no matter what you do, you won’t win. And then, dear reader, this is what I would say to that wide-eyed and newly terrified child:

“But do it anyway.”

Not to get all Mother Theresa on you, but the truth is we should just do it anyway. Why? Maybe it’s to follow your own moral compass so you can peacefully lay you head down at night. Maybe it’s because you still need to believe that what you do matters to someone. Or maybe it’s so you feel justified in your righteous indignation and can write a self-indulgent blog post about it. Regardless of your reasons, I urge you (and myself) to continue to care. Yes, oftentimes it feels as though life would be much easier if we stopped putting in the effort and mindlessly coasted along to whatever fate awaited us. So many others do it, why shouldn’t we? If all of our proverbial blood, sweat and tears only add up to the pain and not the gain, why should we even bother? Because doing it anyway without any promise of something in return makes you a good person. If no one has ever told you that or if you have been aching for a reminder, there it is. You might not ever get a ticker tape parade for your efforts but hopefully you do achieve a personal sense of pride and satisfaction that no amount of outward recognition could provide. This world doesn’t often give us much to feel good about but that doesn’t mean we can’t feel good about ourselves. I don’t know about you, but today I’ve earned that much.

So, do your best work. Help your friend. Love your family. Fight the good fight. Pursue your passion.

Imagine what could happen if we stopped focusing on what we think we deserve and just did it – whatever it might be – because it was the right thing to do. Doesn’t that sound so liberating? I hope to be able to get to that point one day. Because although we can’t fill up the world with fairness, each of us has the power to add one more good person to this earth. And that is a commodity we so dearly need more than anything right now.