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“Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It
is life's change agent. The benefit of death is you know not to waste life
living someone else's choices. Don't let the noise of others' opinions
drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to
follow your heart and intuition."
Steve Jobs, Apple CEO 1955-2011.
“Every death in one’s family poignantly conveys a message to
their loved ones to live life more fully, presently and in the now”.
Oprah Winfrey, American TV show host.
“Love your family; try to do as much as you can. I think
that’s why I’m always trying to burn the candles at both ends now. I want
to be there for my family and for my loved ones, and if somebody needs me
or wants to be with me, I feel really bad or guilty if I can’t be there for
them”.
Kris Jenner - Kardashian family mum, American TV personality,
producer and author.
Hi Readers,
First of all, let me give you some personal background on
the three people quoted above, all of whom are “visionaries” in their own
right and own way.
After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in mid-2004 and
not knowing how much time he had left to live as a result of that, the CEO
of Apple Steve Jobs was somehow, I believe, “inspired” by that very fact to
use his experience to share some insight with his fans and followers about
how to wholeheartedly continue living your best and fullest life, in your
own way, even in the very thick of adversity.
The comment by American TV show host Oprah Winfrey was made
when Canadian country singer Shania Twain was on Oprah’s show promoting her
autobiography “From This Moment On”, after Shania expressed her sadness at
losing both her parents in a car accident in 1987.
The reason I quoted these three people is because I believe
their words are perfectly relevant to this topic: The contrast of life and
death.
Parents often tell their kids that life sometimes and/or
often isn’t delivered to us on a silver platter and often try to instil the “value of hard work” lesson in them;
that they could have and do anything they want, as long as they work hard
to obtain it and/or achieve it, which is a good lesson to impart. I
would happily welcome your feedback on this issue.
But in this blog post, I’d like to pose these questions to
my blog followers from two different perspectives, both from parents and
individuals:
Questions:
1. How do individuals find the right balance in life in
relation to the difference between the “value of hard work” lesson, versus
the “making the most of every growth opportunity that life may throw at
them” lesson?
2. How do parents manage to find the right “balance” between,
on one hand, instilling the “value of hard work” lesson in their children,
while on the other hand also helping ensure that they make the best of the
growth opportunities that life may offer them, even if that might include
them pursuing their own leisurely dreams, likes and/or goals?
3. As an individual, how do you manage to live a “balanced”
life that includes both the lessons listed above?
Throughout my life, I was raised with the “value of hard
work” lesson instilled in me and for most of my life that was pretty much
how I operated.
As I look back on what my life was like, growing up and
having “the value of hard work” lesson instilled in me, I also now realise
that for the past six years, both life and the universe were trying to wake
me up to the fact that sometimes in life, there is never gonna be a right
time to do anything that you intend on doing. If there was something I
wanted to do, then I should go for it and not give up on it. Personally I
can’t understand how this particular theory works but it does, and for a
very good reason and that’s because as life runs its course it can
sometimes take us on an unpredictable and emotional rollercoaster ride.
I guess the most common mistake that people make who were
raised with the “value of hard work” lesson, myself included, is that they
“make” and let their whole lives revolve around it and make decisions
around it; which is sometimes wrong because in hindsight, you sometimes
might have allowed yourself to miss out on what potentially could have been
an “interesting growth opportunity” to learn from, without even knowing it.
The reason I quoted American TV personality, producer,
author and Kardashian family mum Kris Jenner is because, let face it, we’ve
all been there or have had to go there at one point or other countless
times in life, and I think this particular quote is so relevant to this
topic and will deeply resonate with readers.
For me personally, I’ve always been a hard worker my whole
life and I like doing things that can take me on a personal learning curve,
but over time I’ve now also learnt how to enjoy the life moments and make
the best of every opportunity given to me. But it took a few harsh “wake-up
calls” to get me there.
For me unfortunately, lightning did actually strike twice:
first, it took a major personal health scare for me to finally realise that
there is never going to be a “right” time to do anything that I intend on
doing, particularly when it came to pursuing my dream of meeting my
musician role model; and secondly, when my beautiful work family
unexpectedly lost their beloved son and brother Shane O’Reilly last July,
aged 21. Even though I personally never got to know Shane, his death taught
me that NOW is the time to live, pursue my dreams and do whatever I
like whenever I like to do it - because you never know when your last
day is going to be.
I write this article in honour of Shane and the three people
that I quoted above.
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