I feel with ELP that I wasn't making the most of my life and I wasn't making the most of my creativity. I was marking time. I don't want to do that. Life is to short.
I didn't for a moment doubt the choice, but if life is ever fearsome, it is truly fearsome then.
It was just you had to be strong, and if you weren't strong you're a victim and you're not going to make it. That was the reality when I was growing up.