Talking to one of my neighbours earlier about how life changes us (sometimes for the worse, sometimes for better) got me wondering what other peoples life experiences had taught them.
To give this some context, I’ll give you my recent history and what it’s taught me.
Seven years ago, aged 43, I was a work hard, play hard sort of guy, owned a successful business, had a decent house plus a couple of nice cars & a motorbike in my name. Life wasn’t easy but it wasn’t bad either and it felt like all the graft I’d put in during my 20’s and 30’s was finally beginning to pay off. Next stop would be the ‘big deal’, then sell up and retire early.
Unfortunately life had other plans and overnight almost everything changed: The simple act of changing a wheel on my car resulted in the collapse of my C7 vertebrae, I was told I needed urgent reconstructive surgery on my spine with a 50% chance I wouldn’t make it but worse was to come with the news that I had an incurable form of cancer (Multiple Myeloma) with an average life expectancy of 3 – 5 years.
Seven years on and I’m still here but I’ve lost my business, had to downsize significantly and sell off the cars and the bike. I’ve been through lengthy rounds of twice weekly chemotherapy, had two lots of radiotherapy and undergone two bone marrow transplants (the most recent being last July).
I did sort of get my wish in that I’m now ‘semi-retired’ but there’s a lot I can’t do and I’m in pain most days HOWEVER I’ve learned some valuable lessons:
Being a ‘hard ass’ in life rarely makes for a happy or likeable person.
You might strive for perfection but that doesn’t mean everyone else has to.
Spending time with loved ones is way better than giving them fancy gifts.
By all means aspire to the finer things but appreciate what you have today.
Don’t fear anything or anyone that stands between you and happiness.
Stick to your principles but don’t waste precious time and energy arguing in circles.
Don’t stress - there’s no point in worrying about things you can’t control.
You don’t have to be religious to be thankful for being alive.
What lessons has life taught you?
Mark
To give this some context, I’ll give you my recent history and what it’s taught me.
Seven years ago, aged 43, I was a work hard, play hard sort of guy, owned a successful business, had a decent house plus a couple of nice cars & a motorbike in my name. Life wasn’t easy but it wasn’t bad either and it felt like all the graft I’d put in during my 20’s and 30’s was finally beginning to pay off. Next stop would be the ‘big deal’, then sell up and retire early.
Unfortunately life had other plans and overnight almost everything changed: The simple act of changing a wheel on my car resulted in the collapse of my C7 vertebrae, I was told I needed urgent reconstructive surgery on my spine with a 50% chance I wouldn’t make it but worse was to come with the news that I had an incurable form of cancer (Multiple Myeloma) with an average life expectancy of 3 – 5 years.
Seven years on and I’m still here but I’ve lost my business, had to downsize significantly and sell off the cars and the bike. I’ve been through lengthy rounds of twice weekly chemotherapy, had two lots of radiotherapy and undergone two bone marrow transplants (the most recent being last July).
I did sort of get my wish in that I’m now ‘semi-retired’ but there’s a lot I can’t do and I’m in pain most days HOWEVER I’ve learned some valuable lessons:
Being a ‘hard ass’ in life rarely makes for a happy or likeable person.
You might strive for perfection but that doesn’t mean everyone else has to.
Spending time with loved ones is way better than giving them fancy gifts.
By all means aspire to the finer things but appreciate what you have today.
Don’t fear anything or anyone that stands between you and happiness.
Stick to your principles but don’t waste precious time and energy arguing in circles.
Don’t stress - there’s no point in worrying about things you can’t control.
You don’t have to be religious to be thankful for being alive.
What lessons has life taught you?
Mark
