So... a decade has gone by since I decided to impart words of wisdom to my younger self. Here, then, is an addition to what I will tell me younger self...
The 40 year old me
- You are about to embark on the best phase of your career journey. This will be a high watermark for years to come
- The best job will come with another low point in the personal life. You will receive the "second call" and realize that if your genetics have their say, there is more behind you than ahead of you
- The world will go to hell and high basket and you will go along with it. You will question your self worth. You will question your worth as the provider. Learn to measure it in the love from the near and dear ones rather than the numerals on the paycheck. Learn that it is not about who provided, the important thing is that someone is. Ego doesn't pay for groceries.
- Dark, very dark, very very dark days are ahead. Try not to let them change you forever. There is a part of you that probably will.
- A forced long break between jobs after about 20 years of no break may seem like a godsend and jarring at the same time. Pick a lane
- There will be a light at the end of the tunnel. The jobs get harder from here.... you will be tested. you will reconsider, you will suffer, you will suffer some more, you will suffer a lot but you will come out the other side with your honor and your confidence intact
- The next setback will hurt so much less because you are worth so much more and you know it...
- You are getting older, cherish every moment, dread every medical test. Who knows when the latter kills the former.
- Learn to live for today. Enjoy every road trip, remember every moment with family. Take lots of pictures
- You will lose some friends and some people you thought were friends. Learn to loom past the history and understand that the you cannot live your life for others
- You will be fine financially but you will never be crazy rich. You will never get fuck-you-money. Don't lose the time you have for the one you won't
- The one that got away really didn't. Never was yours to lose. Take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask not what if but what if not?
The now me
- If the genetic math tracks, enjoy this damn decade. Might be your last full one
- If the morbid math tracks, hope that damn phone doesn't ring
- If the familial math tracks, the scorecard is holding up, just about. All in all, you barely scored passing marks as a son and a brother, probably above average as a husband and a dad, somewhere in between as a friend. Keep it that way