Lessons From The Waiting Room
Have you got someone with you?
That’s what the Doctor said to me on Thursday Nov 19th at 3.35pm. I calmly told him, No (thinking don’t be silly I just rushed from work to make an afternoon appointment, who would possibly be with me?), and he mentioned that I needed some blood tests and that I was in no shape to go by myself, to the hospital to have them done (speechless at this point. My GP doesn’t do jokes).
I remember the sequence of events perfectly because at first, I thought I was going to miss the GP appointment. I left work later than I should for a gold-dust booking (anyone who uses the NHS understands, but my wife is a magician to get a same-day apptmt), however I fully expected it to be fairly routine and be back working on the impending launch of PrognoStore. Definitely wasn’t expecting going to a hospital!
Fast forward 3 hours later. When you’re waiting for blood test results, what do you do? I can’t speak for everyone but it was my time to reflect on the bigger pie. And in the unique environment these were my thoughts;
Health matters
It’s profound in it’s simplicity but without ‘good health, nothing can be done’. Your health, your spouse, your family. Anyone you’re connected to or care about, the message just needs to be spread, that staying healthy is paramount to everything. It’s so easy to take our health for granted until we have a scare (like I did). And also take for granted the wonderful people who keep our health institutions ticking (I don’t — my mum was a nurse).
So it’s goodbye to my days of being a salad-dodger, exercise-hating, meal-skimping and general lackadaisical attitude to my health, type of guy. It’s just not cool.
Family 1st is not a slogan
#1 priority is your family. No matter how hard you work or not, no matter how much you want to capture that ‘moment’, it should all take second place. It’s very slippery and easy when working in a startup to forget this but it’s equally as dangerous. Don’t leave it too late.
The key thing is to know you don’t make time for family. They come first and you should make time around them, for the other activities.
Don’t settle for less — BE YOU
Sometimes it seems to me that everything *works* so you can compromise from being the best person, you can be. Don’t be that person. It could be at school, work, relationships (with people & God)…literally anything you do, you have to realise that you don’t have to settle for less. Your dreams, hopes, and aspirations, they matter. And you can work towards them. Never let anyone take that away from you.
Remember, you can be anyone you want — including yourself! I think this is crucial as being you, it’s more fun and less crowded. Once you’re only a part of the crowd in any endeavor — you get all manners of competition. Don’t be where the ‘stakes are so small’.
The battles were so ferocious because the stakes are so small — Henry Kissinger
Happiness is a decision
This is true. All emotions are good and useful. Sometimes, they are presented as options prompted by our perception, feelings and thoughts. I realised today that I had a choice of how I would feel.
I chose happy.
