Today I was challenged by my good friend Steve Austin to think about what I
might put in a letter to my younger self.
The challenge was to think about your 15-year-old self and
what you’d want to tell you. While
thinking on this, I’ve wondered about what I might say to my 20-year-old self
or even 30-year-old self. Each time in
life would have had some similar advice and some different advice for sure.
If I’m thinking from about 15 onward to the me from the last
year or two (or even last week), the first piece of advice would be exercise more and lay off the
fast food and beers. This seems like
universal advice but there are definitely phases of me that should have heard
it.
If I really dig deeper though I’m sure there is way more
that could be said.
The 15-year-old kid that focused on football and ATV’s
needed to hear that he should take advantage of the life he’s got. Understand the opportunities presented to you
and the life you have and don’t take it for granted. You’ll miss it when it’s not there.
20-year-old me needed to know that you don’t always have to
be the life of the party. The ones who
matter will still be there in the long run but maybe opening a book or two
every so often would be a good idea.
From 25 to 35, there’s loads of advice I think.
Prioritize family. In
my mind I’ve been prioritizing family since the day I got married but looking
back I believe that I was compartmentalizing and time-boxing family rather than
prioritizing. It’s been said that your
job will be posted before your obituary is written and I’ve seen it
happen. The hours that I gave to a job
when my kids were really young were vital to my career but it is time I will
never get back. So to the young man
striving…slow down and put your family first always.
Also, don’t hold so tightly to your black and white view of
the world. The world is full of grey and
the grey is where the fun is. In conjunction
with this, be willing to be wrong and change your mind. Arrogance hidden by knowledge and humour is
still arrogance and it’s not a good quality.
To those of you reading and wondering what the hell this has
to do with Christianity and the construction journey I’m on, I would say that
it is integral. Learning to live out my
faith in who I am and what I do has been a game changer for me. Learning to empathize and understand people
who’ve had a different life and experiences than me has been eye opening. Walking the walk isn’t something I’d done
much of.
The last 5 years since I rejoined the church in some
capacity have taught me many of the lessons and words of wisdom I’d want to
give my younger self at various stages. If
you’d asked me to write these letters 5 years ago, it would have probably been
some smartass answer like buy Amazon and Apple stock or even which teams would
win the Superbowl and World Series. Now however
I think I’m changing for the better.
The journey of the Constructing Christian is one that has
allowed me to slow down and look back at my life and reflect on it more. To see where faith has fit in and to
understand where and why I stumbled at times.
I’m sure that 50-year-old me will have plenty to say to the
guy at the keyboard right now but until then, I’ll keep plugging and doing my
best to learn, grow, and take care of those I love.
Thank you as always for taking the time to read my
ramblings; I truly appreciate you all.
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