How to Figure it Out

Junior tried to figure it out real hard. He didn't know if he could. He kept working at it.
"Maybe this is it!" he'd say. Then that wouldn't be it.
"Damnit!" he'd say when it wasn't it.

He asked around. He chatted some people up.
"Hey do you know? Because I'm trying to figure it out."
"Don't bug me!" They'd say. He didn't mean to bug people. Then he tried more caution than usual, in case he was bugging people.
"Hey sorry to bug you," he'd open with, "but I'm just trying to figure it out."
"You know it's not really any of my business." They'd say sometimes.

He asked his dad, Senior.
"Son, some things you just have to figure out yourself." said Senior.

He started to think maybe if he couldn't understand it it just wasn't for him, this thing.

Then he saw other people and this one person did a thing that put him in a stressed out situation.
"I got to get out of here." said Junior.
"Too bad, tough break, now beat it." said the stressful person.

Then Junior went and told his dad Senior about the thing.
"Son you can't come complaining to me every time there's a thing like that." said Senior.
"Oh shoot." said son, I mean Junior.

Then Junior practiced real hard at getting in stressful situations and not going and complaining. Instead of figuring it out he just made himself miserable.

"I stink, I didn't figure anything out." said Junior.

But what he didn't realize was that those stressful situations were giving him reference points for figuring it out when someone asked him.

Then he got older, his skin got thick and cracky looking. He wasn't like as old as Senior, but he was older, you know. Senior died though, it was sad. Junior was sad.

"I should have asked you more." said Junior, as he sobbed at Senior's funeral.
"It wasn't what he wanted." said old wise friend of Senior.
"What do you know? Why are you so wise?" asked Junior.

One day a young someone came up to Junior and asked him some things about what the deal was. Junior found that he had a lot of answers.
"Wow how do you have so many answers?" said the someone.
"Hmm because I've been there and I've done that, so I know from what." said Junior.
"Wow, I bet you're lying and someone must have told you." said the someone.
"Nope I lived it, kid." said Junior, "Also my dad didn't talk as much as I do, so you're lucky I'm telling you. You better listen."

The young someone didn't listen and he went and made a bunch of mistakes then learned about the things from the mistakes.