This is the first year I've had to do my taxes... and man are those things complicated at first glance. Why do they need to know SO much? And why do we have to have them in the first place?? -- (slow down all you people who know so much about the history of taxes and governments - I know why we have taxes - I just want to know why we have taxes).
One thing I've discovered from this tax experience so far is that with new responsibility comes new stress - stress you've never dealt with before and therefore, have yet to equip yourself with the appropriate coping mechanism. For example: In sixth grade I would come home with these awful headaches every day. I was wicked stressed out about getting any grade lower than an A. (I know, I was an overachiever and perfectionist - comes from not wanting to disappoint people - one road completely littered with stress) But once I realized all you had to do to get an A was give the teacher what they wanted; the headaches went away. I figured out the formula.
I'm definitely a formula person. Pick out the variables, project the end result, find what values get me that end result - plug it in and stay the course. I've found this method works best with things that don't change over time, otherwise you're constantly revising your formula. And I'm slowly figuring out that this method doesn't work very well in marriage - more specifically, women - more specifically, my wife, Kate. I'll ask her what I need to do to bring about a certain result (or sometimes prevent a certain result) and the answer I usually get is, "I don't know. Today might be different than tomorrow - you'll just have to play it be ear."
Playing it by ear is something I'm usually good at too but only because I use my formulas. So maybe with marriage I have to make daily formulas - hourly formulas... at least that's my current method - however, there's not enough data at this time to come to any conclusive conclusions. (hah)
So I'll get this tax thing down - mainly because I know I have to and I'm generally not one to rebel and escape to the hills of Montana. We'll make it through this year and maybe find out how to cope with the stress it brought and next year it will meld into the "that's just life" category. I'll move on, find new responsibilities and stresses, and then find out how to cope with them. Mmmm - the circle of life... I knew that movie would shape my life.
