accomplishments

It is better to regret a choice of life, while following your passions, than to look back and always wonder why you didn't take your chances.

About a week ago  I've talked to my uncle. He's an independant worker and someone i'm starting to apreciate more as I grow older. I guess some wisdom can only be taught in time, and through experience... be it good or bad.

My uncle is a man with a clear vision.
he knew what he wanted to do.
As he said:

"When I got married, the combined capital of both me and my wife was 20 euros.
The day I told people I was going to become an independant plumber, I got a shitstorm of critique. But I knew it was something I had to do. And so I got things started.
The day my son was born, I told myself: 
whenever he gets married, I'll drive him to church in a genuine oldtimer.
So I worked hard. I made my mistakes, but I learned from them. I took my time off when needed, but I always had the endgame in mind. When opportunity knocked I let it in, no matte if friends and family had better things to do."

Personal note: keep my previous post in mind: it is a good thing to have goals, passions, and purpose. But do not work yourself to death. Having priorities is one thing, letting the whole world pass you by is another. My uncle also enjoyed life when he had the chance.
And you know what?
a few years ago he did it.
He fuckin' drove his son to the wedding chapel with his very own oldtimer.

Of course for every succes story there is another tale of someone who crashed and burned.
But if you really have your mind set on something. If you do the things you are passionate about, then there is no failure, only opportunities to learn

good luck out there

- writer out,
I have some more stories to create -

M

family ties

“Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business.” – Monty Burns

Sorry, I couldn’t resist putting this up here. Although this quote is so horribly wrong, it is still funny.

…

But as always, there is some truth in it, depending how you look at it. Although friends and family are the life force you need to keep on living, some might hold you back. Don’t worry, I’m not a crazy cult leader that tells you to leave everything behind (although I find it quite tempting to take on that job ;-)

I just want to express that most  friends and family will often suggest you to follow the safe path. They like you to succeed in something solid, something that will offer a good future. And, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that. It might even say that they care about you. 

But that easy path might limit your potential. Of course what good is living life on the wild side if you don’t have the means to support yourself, burning every euro you have on crazy projects? So I guess the route to follow lies somewhere in between. Just flip a coin every once and a while. But no matter which way you chose to go, remember that the roads less traveled might be a thousand times more interesting. How would you know if you won’t try it?  

This requires guts. But you do have it in you: you’ve got a stomach, intestines… all the nice gooey bits. So use it every once and a while. Go for gut, go for glory. And don’t forget to tell me a nice juicy story about it.   

grow(l)ing

Oh grow up… well, I guess eventually we all have to. As it comes in all shapes and sizes. For example: dealing with responsibilities, stopping to tell cheesy puns on your great aunt’s funeral etc. 

But what growing (up) doesn’t mean is learning to live with the things you cannot control. Nor is it trying to anticipate on worst case scenarios. Growing is all about changing yourself, mastering the things you can control, so you could change a possible outcome in your advantage. And sometimes this is easier done than said: you are capable of amazing things. You really have more dormant skills than you initially thought you would. Try them out. Grow. Just take it one step at a time and the rest will follow.