What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?
To me having it all means having enough to be happy. I’m happy with my lot, I have a good life, I’m closer to being poor than rich but I have all I need in my life. My family, my memories, my dreams and ambitions, I don’t have it all in terms of possessions power or money, I don’t envy what others have, I admire them for how they have obtained their good fortune and the hard work they have put into that achievement.
I have what I want, I have the people around me that I want around me, I have happiness and I’m content.
I believe I may have mentioned him before, but I’d like to speak to my old primary school teacher who took over a troubled individual’s downward spiral and moulded him into a half decent person.
That individual was me, the teacher was Mr. Twelftree, the school was Little Reddings in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
I’d love to meet him and talk to him, I’d love to say just two words – “Thank you”.
He was and has been the most influential man I have met in my life, even overshadowing my own father as he saw something in me that even my own father couldn’t see.
Thank you sir, the debt I owe you cannot be repaid, I only hope that what I have learned from you has been passed forward to help others.
I have an old personal cassette recorder otherwise known as a dictaphone sitting in the drawer of my bedside cabinet. On that cassette is a recording of my lovely mum drunkenly singing at a small dinner my wife and I hosted for her and my father about 30 years ago.
She’s singing the old Platters record, “Smoke gets in your eyes”
It’s my most treasured memory of a most beautiful person, and the fact I can still listen to my Mum after all these years at a time when she is happy is immensely satisfying and comforting to me. She didn’t have a happy life with my father, it’s just so good to hear her without worry on her mind.
Me and my wife both collect. She loves a certain brand of handbag, me, I collect cameras, photo postcards, radios, models, garden plants and ornaments and empty boxes.
Together we both collectively collect dust as we’d both rather be out making memories than doing boring household chores.
I have no kids, I’ve not done anything particularly good or spectacular for anyone to remember me by, I’ve just lived a good life, been a good citizen and that’s about it.
So like the majority of residents of this planet that have gone before me maybe I might be remembered as being a decent person, but more than likely I will be forgotten. Ive just been a resident, a paid up member of the brotherhood of man, and that’s not such a bad thing.
Maybe, slinking away into anonymity is the way to go. Who cares? No fuss.
Cold has a beautiful aura to it. It also is a major pain in the ass so I mostly feel the latter towards it.
I love visiting cold climates and Iceland is up there with being one of my favourite places to visit on the planet. It’s set up for the cold, it works well and the locals are all prepared and work well in it.
Back home however we are not. A bit of cold that for some countries would be a minor inconvenience, for us becomes catastrophic and the whole country grinds to a halt. We are never prepared.
Cold brings on my arthritic aches and pains and I long for the summer months, however I am accustomed to the fact that like it or not, winter conditions have to be endured, so I do.
Yes I’m ok with the cold, but to be honest I really do prefer the warmer months.
I’ve broken many, but here is one i spoke of a few months back.
I was fixing a heavy wood cabinet at home, I’d been working nights and I was tired, in theory I should have gone straight to bed and rested. Instead I decided to continue, managed to hit my thumb with a hammer, used some ripe old language and then decided to land a right hander square on a solid wood door.
It transpires that after suffering quite a bit of discomfort in my hand I had broken the knuckle on my little finger, also known as a boxers fracture.
BustedMy busted finger
What lesson have I learned I hear you ask? Well to be honest when I feel any anger coming on now I just think of my hand and the anger subsides.
Anger is not worth it and is a waste of energy, it causes pain and upset and no one deserves to witness that.
I was a fool, probably still am but I’m now an educated fool.
I must admit that I’ve not been very good at this for years but now I’m a strict advocate of separating the two. Every new year resolution used to be “ I’m going to work to live not live to work” but I soon ended up dropping that mantra.
So what changed?
Quite simply i just decided thats it, its all got to stop. Im paid for an 8 or 12 hour day nothing more and why should i give them more? They were taking over my life in return for no good will or recognition and i was just working myself into an early grave. How was that fair to my family?
Just a few simple changes:
I came off all work related WhatsApp groups
I left work social media platforms
Added a simple footer to my emails stating that when I’m off I’m off and I’ll reply on my return
Work phone goes off when i leave the depot, and doesn’t go back on until my return
I manage peoples expectations now, explaining that I’m entitled to uninterrupted time away with my family
It really is as simple as that. I sometimes sign on to be hit with issues that have occurred in my absence but thats just how it used to be and I’m now not wasting precious time at home worrying about work related issues.
It really is that easy. Go on change your work outlook and enjoy your life. Time is precious, don’t have regrets, give your family the easiest gift you can give them…
Literally, I haven’t and I very much suspect no one ever has, however minor inconveniences are probably what most people who have answered this question have experienced rather than “Sacrifice,” according to the Oxford dictionary, see below.
Sacrifice….yeah!
Now I’ve never killed anything knowingly and offered it to a god or deity, and I may be pressing the point that the word sacrifice is a bit “strong” when all you’ve really done is “inconvenienced” yourself for a short while. It shows how words can be changed over time to fit a situation ever so dramatically.
However inconvenience when combined with duty means a different thing. Yep I’ve experienced that on many an occasion. I highlight the fact that with both mine and my wife’s parents, we looked after them all, comforted them through extreme illness with care and compassion and comforted each other when they passed away, a minor inconvenience and duty as their children.
Even today we are looking after our very poorly dog, he’s been ill for the last 18 months and he isn’t going to get better. We are having no holidays or time away without him as we want to spend all that time with him, people forget that a dog is with you for part of your life but to him you are his whole life. Just think about that.
So giving up your time is a minor inconvenience and an expected duty.
No need to slaughter the sacrificial lamb, let’s not over play it.
Foxes Den 
You must be logged in to post a comment.