Blog 99: The thing before...

“My path has not been determined. I shall have more experiences and pass many more milestones.” Agnetha Faltskog (the one all the guys fancy) Abba

We are none of us strangers to success. There are those moments that run into other moments and the outcome is good. Better than good in many cases. It’s a lovely feeling when it all comes together and you get to reap the rewards.

But how do you know when you’ve made it?

Your first success? Your rise to the top of your profession? Your wedding day? Or maybe it’s your calm feeling of satisfaction that YES this is the life you signed up for?

But how do you know?

Pop stars do it all the time… think they are at the start of something great only to find that tiny moment was as good as it will ever get. Rui da Silva anybody? At the time the papers were full of how this Portuguese Dj managed to bridge the gap between Euro-Rubbish and Cool Britannia. Such optimism was justified in that Rui scored a UK Number one with ‘Touch me’ in 2000… and conversely invalidated when nothing else followed.

It’s not just the fickle entertainment industry where you can think you’ve made it and it’ll last forever. The Business world is as full of false steps as any other. Tom Dalrymple was the toast of Scotland with his Flyglobespan low-cost airline. Dalrymple’s business acumen led to him becoming one of Scotland’s wealthiest men. Of course that may still be the case but as for Business acumen... the airline declared bankruptcy on the 16th December 2009.

How do you know your wedding day is your ONLY wedding day? Hollywood’s most successful marriage was that between the legends Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Paul was famously quoted (when asked why he is not tempted to commit adultery in a town full of willing nubiles) “Why go out for meatballs when you have steak at home”. They married on Jan 29^th 1958 and remained married till death did them part over fifty years later. BUT. Paul had said “I DO” to the death do us part question previously to Jackie Witte (mother of his two daughters).

Thing is you never know if your big success is the one you are enjoying right now or if it is the thing around the corner waiting for you.

Annoying isn’t it?

Can anyone sit down and feel smug? Can anyone really think… “Ahhh yes this is the life I signed up for”.

There is only the one answer… no. No they can’t.

There’s a wonderful equality in that fact.

Best thing about life is you absolutely never know, (no matter how well things are going right now), if this is the thing before the thing that you’ll be most proud of…or thing itself. No matter how terrific, no matter how secure, no matter how stable… you absolutely never know if you are in a moment or a lifetime.

The best of us are the ones who are aware of that uncertainty. And cherish the fact that particular uncertainty is the greatest leveller of all.

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