Abundance | Rock Bottom = Resilience

lessons From a Life Lived

My journey from the top to the bottom, to the top and back to the bottom again...

Why I gave up heroin and how learnt how to be content just being me.

I consider myself to have lived somewhat of a charmed life. There is not much in life; I haven't said yes to at least once or one thousand times...

At the age of 45, I am now faced with the reality of midlife, my mortality potentially, with three kids an ex-wife and recently celebrating 12 years of marriage. I ponder a life of juxtaposition from property and prestige to prison and heroin addiction and a body that has lived fast and feels old and what I have learnt.

From an early age, I was a gregarious individual, always looking to experience the most life could offer. I enjoyed going to school; however, not so much the academia. Some may say I excelled at sports, which provided me with favour and social capital. It is in the sporting arena that brought my leadership qualities to light. Early on, I learnt that as a leader not to ask of others, that, I am not willing to do leading by example people will follow. Another leadership quality I inherently have is a genuine enjoyment for meeting new people from different cultures and backgrounds. Human behaviour and foreign cultural practices are of great interest to me.

Lesson 1 Leadership & Networking

• I worked out early on that leading by example, gets the ultimate "buy-in."
• Never to ask someone to do something I wasn't willing to do
• Be kind to people.
• Connect people who have the skills, with the people who are looking for people with those skills. People seriously appreciate this!
• Everyone is my friend; I just haven't met them yet.
• The value of diversity.
• Never judge a book by its cover.
• I can only do one thing 100%

Lesson 2 Pain & Suffering

• Trying to put a band-aid on an open wound doesn't work.
• A permanent solution to a temporary problem isn't a solution.
• A quick fix is exactly that, a short term solution.
• You get what you pay for, and sometimes you don't even get that.
• Some things aren't meant to be.
• The impact of my choices can last a lifetime.
• Two sickies don't make a wellie; 2 unwell people should never procreate, water finds its own, level.
• A happy wife doesn't always mean a happy life.

Lesson 3 Change & Freedom

• If I want something different I need to do something different (easier said than done)
• Personal responsibility I am responsible for me the ultimate freedom.
• It's pointless to argue unless you know you are right.
• Change is inevitable; the level of pain is negotiable.
• No one else can do it for me.

Lesson 4 how to sustain a life of my choosing

• Action, Repetition, Consistency, if I trip to go back to the basics that supported the change.
• Enjoy the process.
• Passion is the key to success.
• Constant surrender to how I think my life should be, letting go to accept how my life is.

The time is NOW; reality only exists at this moment; everything else is a figment of my imagination.

If you are not living the life you want, WHY NOT?