Life is Good, so it says

 

Consumer drabness pierced by pithy strings of philosophy like this.

In the dollar store parking lot this jeep displayed a bit of encouragement to anyone who cared to read the text on the spare tire cover, people stopped behind the truck at a stop light, neighbors passing the person's home, or those passing by in this parking lot. Like most aphorism, the short exhortation can be read a couple of different ways: stay true mean could "don't lie or make reality any more complicated than it is already," or stay true could mean "keep doing what you are trying and don't be daunted," or it could mean a compass reference for guiding one's path by reference to the unchanging North Star - hold your course heading.

"Life is Good" is a folk expression to remind others to pause from their stringing, anxiety, and preoccupying thoughts to admire and appreciate the many good things that surround the person, both the ones that are apparent and obvious, but also the things often overlooked or taken for granted. A line of casual clothing also features this friendly line. But seeing it on the back of a Jeep and paired with the "stay true" saying is much less commonly seen.

When daily routines are filled with money, price comparisons, recurring bills to pay, and many temptations urging the person to buy still more stuff, it can come as a refreshing pause to spot a bit of folk wisdom - commercialized or hand-made - and to reflect on the possible meaning of itself, but also as it intersects the person's thoughts in that place at that time; like some spellbound messenger that captures the person's attention for a moment.

It would be interesting to know the kinds of motivations and models that shaped the designer's patterns here. Perhaps there is an earnest wish to tap the shoulder of strangers and offer them some perspective: when times are tough, this keepsake miniature message is there to offer encouragement and a larger perspective on the aggregate of Human Experience. Or maybe the primary focus is to seize upon a compact catch-phrase that will fit on T-shirts, bumper stickers, and tumblers to add a dash of glitter and (potentially cliched, worn-out) sophisticatedness to their lives and (selfie, self-admiring, self-gauging) lifestyles. The driving force in the designer and the layers of management signing off their approval can be a mix of both of these, and others, too.

There is no need to excavate the meanings, though, to read it at face value and enjoy whatever the reader may take away from the unexpected encounter with the message.