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Can You REALLY Have It All?

by Steven Wagenheim
4 replies
  • OFF TOPIC
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I was just forced to do some reflecting on where my life has gone.

As most of you know, I'm semi retired now. Truth is, I'm more retired than semi
as I only work about 3 days a month now.

I spend most of my time playing Magic, going to my friend's store to help him
out, taking my daughter places, buying stuff from Ebay and even watching
some TV. My wife and I are currently going through the whole Dead Zone
collection because we missed season 6 when it hit the tube so we're watching
the whole series now. It's been some marathon.

But then today, I heard from my friend Caliban Darklock. Yes, I consider him
a friend. We have so much in common and I love chatting with him.

He reminded me that I hadn't been to one of his TMN shows in a dog's age.

In fact, I haven't been to any TMN shows in a dog's age. I've almost
completely lost touch with my IM life and IM friends.

I then realized that to get even a fraction of that life back, I'd have to
give SOMETHING up. I mean there are only 24 hours in a day. And right now,
my day is pretty full.

This made me further realize that you really CAN'T have it all, unless of course
your ALL is very little. I have such a full life now, especially since I finally got
my health back after a long 10 year illness. I am pain free now for almost 11
months. It will be 11 months on August 6.

Caliban...I miss our talks. I still haven't gotten my voice back completely. In
fact, I can't sing anymore so I don't know if I'll ever be recording anymore
music unless it's instrumental stuff.

For those who don't know, I got a bad case of laryngitis in April. I haven't
been the same since. Not sure why, but the voice never came back fully.

Anyway, I realized that I have to prioritize things. What's most important to
me?

It may take some time to sort this all out and maybe I can't have it all.

It's been a sobering day for me.
  • Profile picture of the author HenryDicks
    Anyway, I realized that I have to prioritize things. What's most important to me?
    Yeah, I'm having this discussion with myself about 3-4 times a year, and it's never extremely pleasant. Given the extreme achievements I'm aiming at, I'm missing out on a lot of things that I'd pursue if I could live this life a second time, but sadly, that doesn't seem to be an option.

    It's kinda hard for me to make these decisions, especially in business, where you might have to spend a decade or more on education and training to be taken seriously - only to discover that it wasn't really what you wanted in the first place.

    Then there are micro-choices - do you cancel an important meeting to make it to your daughter's birthday in time, even though making your organization excel is your primary goal?

    It seems to me that there's a lot of good advice on how to get things done, but little more than anecdotes to help you decide which things to get done, so introspection might be the only option.

    Anyway, thanks for the thread. Always appreciate topics like this one.
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    Want to know how to make millions of dollars with little work? Just sell books on how to make millions of dollars with little work!

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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Didn't know about your voice, Steve. Are you drinking a spoon of lemon and honey every day for it? You should be.

    No need to wane philosophical about just breezing through and saying hi or visiting someplace on the net where friends hang out. Not much different than grabbing coffee or a beer with the neighbors once in awhile to catch up on old times. We're all fine with giving you the same amount of crap when you come by now as we were when you were a full time fixture here. Seems like with all the extra time on your hands it would be easier to spread yourself around further since you aren't always busy having to make a buck. Not only can you have it all - you can have it in doses that are much more tolerable than when you were cranking out the work at foaming at the mouth speed.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    In the words of another Steven, of course you can't have it all ... where would you put it?
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
    Banned
    I think it depends on what you mean by “everything.” Personally I think I can accomplish everything I want in life. Seems to me that the problem isn't how audacious a person’s goals are but the volume of them in terms of how many things they can accomplish in life.
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    "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity."―Joseph Sugarman
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