This article from the Washington Post is typical of many stories that document the hard, hard life of professionals caught in the whirlwind that is the post-boom reality.

It's a total toe sucker.

I started reading it, hoping for something different. Perhaps the revelation that now is exactly the time for faith, hard work and conviction that life is short and we should prosecute our lives with sincerity. The writer veers toward that pole near the end of the article, but it feels like an add-on, as if she herself felt the piece was too much of a bummer.

Then there's this essay by the endlessly upbeat poster boy for manifestoes, Seth Godin.

Granted, it's only a short piece in a magazine that's no longer considered relevant, but at least Godin is still hammering away at the same ideas that made him into a marketing voice in the first place.

Here's one of my favorites lines: "So stop thinking about how crazy the times are, and start thinking about what the crazy times demand."