Category: life

What doesn’t kill you

We tend to focus on the negative. The bad that happened to us, how we ended up in hospital, lost this or that, are not making enough money, etc etc.

We need to focus more on the positive. Sure you ended up in hospital, but thanks to modern science you are here to live another day. What doesn’t kill you, and all that. You know, it does make you stronger. If you let it.

Don’t fret about the thing that didn’t kill you, the thing that almost happened, what could happen if, what bad the future may bring. Instead focus on making yourself stronger, better, more positive. Develop a positive mental attitude. Look at the good in life, not the bad. Focus on the positive, not the negative.

You are still here so it didn’t kill you, whatever it was. Look ahead not back.

Eternity has no time for regrets

You forget that we are mortal, that our time on earth is not a given. We can all go at any time. We are lucky to have the time that we have.

And then they start dying.

Family members, both near and far, friends both close and distant. You suddenly realise that you are going to more funerals than weddings. Saying goodbyes.

But these goodbyes, though sad with sorrow, are sad for other reasons. They are going before you had a chance to say what you wanted to say, to tell them how you felt, that you appreciated the time you had, however little. To show them who you are and what you have achieved. To show them that you did it, you reached your goals, you did what you said you would.

But now it’s too late. They’re gone. There’s no do-over, no inserting another coin to continue. For them it’s over. Your interaction is no more. You cannot tell them anything.

It hits you like a wave. Not only are they gone but there is no more them. You can’t talk to them, ask them anything, getting the answers to unanswered questions. Game over. It was what it was. Their time has ended while yours continues. Your two timeline’s interactions are over. It was what it was and there is no retrospective.

If this is teaching me anything it’s that I should appreciate the time I have left and to make peace, seek closure, get answers, whatever, with those that are still here, while they are here. Eternity has no time for regrets.

A sense of achievement

I love that feeling of a sense of achievement. Feeling that you’ve accomplished something today. Even if it’s something small. A win is a win.

Some days I can’t go to sleep if I feel like I’ve not accomplished anything today. That I achieved nothing. That nothing was crossed-out on my to do list. No feeling of progress being made.

Life isn’t all about progress. Sometimes you just have to enjoy it. Take a me day. Relax, recover, enjoy.

It’s nice to feel a sense of achievement, and just getting through another day can feel like a sense of achievement in itself. Don’t make life a tick-box exercise. Crossing off items on some imaginary list so that you feel like today had purpose, that it had meaning. Just being here, showing up, living your life is enough.

Everything seems so expensive

Everything seems so expensive.

But is it? 

I asked AI.

It gave a detailed response taking into account inflation, the pandemic, supply chain issues, energy prices, wars, the weather, and just about anything else it could think of.

The answer?

Yes everything is more expensive.

Over the last five years it has accelerated, with salaries, therefore spending power, not keeping up.

When you really put your mind to something

When you really put your mind to something.

When you give it your all, all your focus and energy.

It’s amazing what you can achieve.

But we rarely do it.

We procrastinate, we defer, we ignore, we phone it in.

Imagine what we could achieve if we really put our mind to it.

Gave it all our focus and energy.

Brought our A-game.

Each and every day.

Things taken away

We get frustrated when we are told that we can’t do this or that anymore due to age or health. Not that we wanted to. But it was nice that we could, that it was an option, should we ever want to. But when it is gone, removed, no longer an option, we become sad, annoyed, with a sense of loss, for something we never had, or wanted.

We only get one life and not enough time to experience everything that we could possibly experience. So for example being told that you can’t go deep-sea diving, or lift really heavy weights, or run a marathon, ever, triggers a sense of FOMO. A fear of missing out. Of never being able to experience those actions or activities. I mean, there are plenty of other things you can engage in and experience, if you wanted. But being told that something has been taken off your table of life, that it is no longer an option for you, can feel depressing.

I like to think about it another way. That you have reached the point where you are at today through a series of decisions and actions. Every possible action or activity in front of you is not guaranteed to be there forever. You make choices every moment of your life, and some of those choices will remove options from the table. True, you may feel a sense of loss when some things are no longer an option, but take pleasure in the fact that there is still a table in front of you full of options. Every day that you wake to that table is a good day.

Tracking your water intake

It seems weird that we should track our water intake. Yet most of us are not drinking enough. There’s even apps to help track your intake. Are you hitting your daily target? I think it’s 8 glasses, or 3 litres, or 4 pints depending on who you ask.

Why are we not drinking enough? Modern diets with over-priced food and drink numbing our taste buds and quench for thirst? Or feeling hungry when we are actually thirsty?

If in doubt, drink. Water that is. Anything else could be a diuretic. Don’t risk it. Best play it safe and drink water. That’s what your body wants anyway. A nice cool glass of water. Eight of them a day.

Stay hydrated!

When is rock bottom?

You hear the term a lot: reaching rock bottom.

When do you know you’ve hit rock bottom? There always seems further that you can fall. So when is it the actual rock bottom?

“I hit rock bottom and turned my life around“. Maybe it’s the point at which you can’t take any more or mentally make the decision to stop falling and to do something about it? Maybe everyone’s rock bottom is different. It’s when you decide to stop falling and to move in the opposite direction.

I need to stop falling.

Feeling your age

Feeling your age. An expression often used when you feel old. Unable to do something that you used to do with ease. Or used as an insult to infer a loss of physical ability. Feeling your age.

Yet in my head I’m forever twenty four. I’m constantly surprised when I look in the mirror. I have to do a quick check that it’s me. I look older. When I dream or imagine myself doing something I’m always younger. Reality kicks in when I actually attempt something, or my body tells me to pack it in and act your age. These days I’m definitely feeling my age. How old do you feel?

Reflections

I’m walking on a beach reflecting. It reminds me of another beach, long ago at the start of my career. I was sent to the South coast to work with a client. I was lodged at a lovely hotel with pristine beaches. It’s the end of a productive day and I’m walking along the beach on a call discussing the future with a friend. The road ahead looks bright.

Cut to the present. I’m on another beach, memories of the first triggered. How did life pan out? Did my career go how I wanted it to go? Am I where I wanted to be at this age?

Reflections.