The Trampoline Barge Effect was established several years ago during an online conversation with my friend, Mike Dunn. 

It had been long established that I fail at everything I attempt, and on this particular evening I was not very happy about something. Mike jokingly asked if I was going to commit suicide. I explained to him that I would never even attempt to commit suicide due to the fact that I would fail. Then we got into a discussion about how my consistent failure isn't usually my own fault. Frequently my failures seem to be caused by the persistent intervention of an unseen force, bringing unforeseeable circumstances into anything I do.

 For example, if I were to attempt suicide by means of jumping off a bridge, a barge would materialize below, hauling loads of trampolines. I would inevitably get seriously injured, and possibly even paralized, but I would not die from the attempt. The ultimate consequences would only be to have an even more miserable life.

In any case, this is how we came up with the Trampoline Barge Effect. Which we use to describe a persistent failing at life and its many obstacles.