How do you know when you've 'made it'
...when you've 'Made it' in life? I've been thinking about this for many years and I'm no closer to the answer now than when I first realized, as a child, that one day I would grow up and venture out into the big wide world on my own. Okay, full disclosure - I'm not quite sure that I'm all grown up yet, even at almost forty...but I'm still trying to figure out what 'Making it' in life really means?
When I was a kid, I was cock-sure that all I had to do in life was go to college, get an MBA, join a consultancy, travel the world, marry a pretty girl, have 2.4 kids, 1.8 cars, 2 dogs, a cat, and a house in the suburbs...then I would have it all, right? Er...I'm not so sure. I got the MBA, I traveled around Europe, I married the pretty girl, I got 1 dog I and a good job and lived in the suburbs...and WHAP! Before I even made it to the kids or the second dog, it all started to sort of unravel. Work was taking more from me than it was giving, my wife and I separated, our dog died, we got divorced, I had a bad car accident (someone ran a stop sign and t-boned me), I left the job, had back surgery, spent six months in physical rehab...and then I looked in the mirror and couldn't figure out who I was or what I was living for anymore. So I changed the game.
I sold and/or gave away all my stuff, moved to LA with my best friend and still...nope - just wasn't feeling it. Life wasn't exactly inspiring me to leap from bed every morning. Then while working in a furniture shop out there, I almost completely severed my right thumb on a table saw. OUCH. By the grace of God, it was quickly reattached and healed without infection but it was the final straw for me. I bought a ticket to Czech Republic, signed up for a TEFL (English Teaching Certification) class and headed overseas. And life was...weird. But being completely alone in a country where I didn't speak the language gave me time to think...if I could just translate the thinking to writing then I'd crank out a book in no time, I thought. FYI - books take time.
Eventually, after a year, I managed to complete/edit and publish my first book. About halfway through the second currently and finally starting to feel like I'm doing what I want in life. I'm pretty sure I'll never get 'rich' being an author, but it is enjoyable brain exercise and I hope that in time that it'll at least 'pay some of the bills' :-) In the meantime, in retrospect, I'm thankful for all the crap that made me run away to Prague...it helped me to find who I was all along but somehow missed out on while I was trying to 'Make it' in life.
But one think still nags me - when I go check on thepiratebay or other piracy sites, I still don't see any copies of my 7200 Days ebook there? If nobody is pirating my stuff yet, have I really 'Made it' in life? I guess time will tell :-P
When I was a kid, I was cock-sure that all I had to do in life was go to college, get an MBA, join a consultancy, travel the world, marry a pretty girl, have 2.4 kids, 1.8 cars, 2 dogs, a cat, and a house in the suburbs...then I would have it all, right? Er...I'm not so sure. I got the MBA, I traveled around Europe, I married the pretty girl, I got 1 dog I and a good job and lived in the suburbs...and WHAP! Before I even made it to the kids or the second dog, it all started to sort of unravel. Work was taking more from me than it was giving, my wife and I separated, our dog died, we got divorced, I had a bad car accident (someone ran a stop sign and t-boned me), I left the job, had back surgery, spent six months in physical rehab...and then I looked in the mirror and couldn't figure out who I was or what I was living for anymore. So I changed the game.
I sold and/or gave away all my stuff, moved to LA with my best friend and still...nope - just wasn't feeling it. Life wasn't exactly inspiring me to leap from bed every morning. Then while working in a furniture shop out there, I almost completely severed my right thumb on a table saw. OUCH. By the grace of God, it was quickly reattached and healed without infection but it was the final straw for me. I bought a ticket to Czech Republic, signed up for a TEFL (English Teaching Certification) class and headed overseas. And life was...weird. But being completely alone in a country where I didn't speak the language gave me time to think...if I could just translate the thinking to writing then I'd crank out a book in no time, I thought. FYI - books take time.
Eventually, after a year, I managed to complete/edit and publish my first book. About halfway through the second currently and finally starting to feel like I'm doing what I want in life. I'm pretty sure I'll never get 'rich' being an author, but it is enjoyable brain exercise and I hope that in time that it'll at least 'pay some of the bills' :-) In the meantime, in retrospect, I'm thankful for all the crap that made me run away to Prague...it helped me to find who I was all along but somehow missed out on while I was trying to 'Make it' in life.
But one think still nags me - when I go check on thepiratebay or other piracy sites, I still don't see any copies of my 7200 Days ebook there? If nobody is pirating my stuff yet, have I really 'Made it' in life? I guess time will tell :-P
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