Here is to those we have loved and kept and here is to those we have loved and lost, here is to the secret of life; the ability to love and endure!
Life is for the living and not for the dead! Life is for those daily tests, that tell us we are alive. Then by surviving them we get to enjoy these delicate, indescribably wonderful moments that make life what it is, unique, special, treasured!
When I was younger, not that much younger but long enough ago to include at least six World Cups, someone said the following to me, Young Kilbride (I have not heard that in a while) life is a golden thread, a gossamer thin delicate thread, so easily broken and therefore lost irretrievably. On that line are small pearls, just like morning dew and they are the special moments, good and bad, that you experience and learn from. Those are the highlights, the memories of your life separated by long spaces of nothing. So cherish those pearls of joy or sorrow, they are what will define you.
As a fifty year old man, a son, father, husband, lover, employer and Evertorian, I try to remember at least once a day that this is it! There is, to use a clich, no dress rehearsal. What you are doing today, this week, this month, this year – or more importantly this second, could be the last thing you ever do. This act could be the last thing anyone will ever remember about you, or ever know about you.
Consequently I am, to many it would appear, irritatingly direct and honest. Although I suppose the grumpy old man syndrome often gets a mention behind my back at work or at home!
The situation is, you see, that I don’t see the point in not being straightforward if by not being so it is actually going to lead to a clash, a crisis, a delayed reaction, a need for clarification or attention later!
Let’s be honest and fair, clear and true, now today and right here, right in the moment. Stop appeasing those you donat wish to, donat keep the peace with a fool or an annoying character, especially if it’s me.
From today recognise, as I have, that every time you got a knock, or you are lied about, cheated, hurt or robbed, be that emotionally or financially, those who did that to you actually did you a huge favour! You are stronger and wiser and you are still here, that means you will be eventually proven right or proven wrong.
So today I am older, wiser, harder and actually more loving, especially to those I like. Life is a treasure trove to me and I have only just begun to enjoy it.
So you may ask what has all that got to do with Financial Maturity and or giving financial advice? Well if you can’t work that out you must just be that one person who is actually still on a dress rehearsal!