Make This Year Count
Happy New year Folks! And thanks for being with me on this journey to understand money. I know, it is already 19 days past the new year, but I had some catching up to do so couldn’t post for the past 2 weeks!
But nevertheless, half of the first month is already gone! Whew! Time flies right?
Thus, I have decided to start this year by posting a personal story that I felt would be an appropriate start for the year.
I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I loved writing it!
Onto today’s, post!
It only takes one phone call to change your life.
I’ll never forget the phone ring that I received from my grandfather's doctor on the morning of July 19, 2021. It was ten minutes past ten in the morning, and I had just come home after a workout. I was getting ready for a shower, rolled up in my towel when my phone buzzed. It was a call from my grandfather's doctor.
Our entire family had tested positive for COVID-19 fifteen days prior to this call. While most of my family members pulled through just fine. My grandfather, given his age and other health conditions, had more complications than the rest. Given his health, he had been in the hospital for more than 15 days when the doctor called and said, "Your grandfather is not able to maintain his oxygen saturation level." At first, I couldn’t grasp the gravity of this situation and called up my cousin to take him in on the call, and the doctor repeated the same words. In the next few minutes, while we were trying to understand what exactly was happening, the doctor informed us that he had passed away.
I have had experience with death before; some of my closest friends have lost their loved ones, so I know how the environment around death usually is, but I have never experienced the death of someone I lived and breathed with. For the first time, it felt different. Maybe because it was someone from my own family.
This July will mark two years since his death. Death usually hits people in different ways, and the loss of a family member is also mourned differently. Not that there is anything right or wrong with any of those ways, but I am usually very weird around death. Instead of having a range of emotions that I cannot name, I usually only have one thought going through my head: "I won’t be able to see that person again." I guess I don’t get to decide how I feel or how I should think when someone dies. Nevertheless, our family was different after that call.
People don’t like thinking about death; I have rarely had a conversation with anyone about anything related to death. I've had many discussions with my friends about life after death and whether I'll go to Heaven or Hell, but never about actual death and the feelings associated with it. But, as cliché as it sounds, the truth is that death is what gives our lives any meaning. It is a constant reminder of how dispensable we are, and for most of us, nothing will change much after we are gone. In previous posts, I discussed time in relation to the number of blocks we all have, or how time is the only asset that diminishes as our lives progress.
I am talking about time again because, at the start of every year, many people think about having new intentions for the year. They set goals, deadlines, and resolutions for the year. If you are one of those people who has drafted goals for the year, I want to push you beyond the shallow goals such as losing 5 kg for this year, traveling to a new location, or making X amount of money. Think of how you can make 2023 the year of purpose.
Go Out. Start working on that dream business, book, or podcast you have been abandoning for the past so many years. Stop playing it safe! Go all in! Utilize the word "no" more often in your conversation. Don’t be afraid of ruthlessly saying no to things you don’t like to do or wish to do. even if it is your friends asking you out for a night of clubbing. Stop trying to make everyone like you. Use all your vacation days. Keep that phone down. Tell your parents you love them. Tell your partner you love her. Invest what you have. Don’t feel guilty while spending. Share what you have and create a year of no regrets and no faults for yourself.
Don’t let this year go by just like all the others. That’s the only resolution you should be making this year. When you squander your time, you throw away an opportunity.
Stop saying, "I don’t have enough time." Be ruthless about where and how you want to spend your time. The way you spend your money and time defines who you are. Let your calendar and bank account reflect who you truly are. Don’t accept excuses from yourself.
Life doesn’t wait for us. That age, money, or conditions ideal for you to follow your dream will never come. Quite often, we assume we have more time, but we don’t get a second chance when it comes to our lives. We continue to push essential things into the future while leaving things unsaid. Our lives are really a gamble. If you’re telling yourself, "I’ll get to it tomorrow…." what happens if tomorrow doesn’t come?
Two days before my grandfather passed away, we spoke with him over a video call and were planning to have a nice dinner once he would be back from the hospital. None of us had an inkling that it was going to be our last video call. We rarely can predict "our lasts" with any degree of accuracy.
Death didn’t wait for us to have our one last family meal together. We thought we were all going to be fine since most of us had recovered. But you don’t choose when you’re done, so live now with purpose.
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