As i was checking my emails i found the most recent notification of one of my rss subscriptions, Dean Hunt. Only this time he was not writing about SEO or business related stuff. It was a moving story of a professor who was giving his last lecture. This man, who have an impressive career as Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design Co-Director, at the Carnegie Mellon University have an outgoing battle with pancreatic cancer since it was diagnosed in 2006. His doctors predicted life expectative of 3 to 6 month and yet he was giving this lecture in a pretty good shape.
Dean Hunt asked all his readers to write something to share, what we would say to our readers if we were in a situation that compromise our existence. A way to offer a tribute to Randy Pausch, a man with an incredible will even before the adversity
As easy as it may seems, when it comes to writing something that express your inner thoughts specially when it comes to writing a what would i do if… it turns out pretty hard, that because i am not in those professor pants. But as hard as it gets, here is my contribution and my tribute.
I’m only 33 years old but the experiences i had surely count for a long and full life. I feel somewhat the same way as Byron Rode says in his great line: I have gone through a lot more than what many have in 40 years. One of the things i never regret is to have known my other half, i lost everything when i knew her, my home, my clothes, money, paintings… everything. But as i lost many treasured things i gain the whole world because i could finally speak my soul to a woman who understand what is to be bound to a situation were you were unable to be yourself. All the things we share together is a product of love and devotion to each other.
When we began this journey, we lost many friends, people that never has spoken to us again and when they do they do it with a resentment impossible to hide or control. But, if we were meant to be together so be it.
I had always lived my life based on the experiences i learn from every path i take. Some are mistaken and some are good to go but no matter which decisions i made they all have repercussions in the lives of others around me for good or for worse. For example, what i do now; Trance Liquido, Grupo Probeta, my artist career, the freelancing and my teaching at the university may have not been possible if i along with my wife had not been fired from our former jobs. Our former employees thought in a moment that we were conspiring against their project but in their worries or incapacity to find money to support the structure they were unable to see that we were friends and we were not hypocritical towards them. The answers to that matter always were in front of all our very eyes, the yellow submarine who wish to be Commander.
We began with our little ventures in the business world as soon as we get fired because it turns out that our banks accounts were empty and our fridge were only full of water, some vegetables and a bottle of Diet Coke, nothing less and nothing more. A week later we had a business plan, a mission and a basic structure of what we are going to do but completely clueless about what and how we were going to accomplished this task, like for instance, find clients, pay the rent, food, gas, and all the expenses needed for a basic living.
A month later we were unable to pay for the rent, so we move on. But soon after that, our efforts were rewarded with a valuable account of a respected distributor in the mechanical industry. After that, many other clients came looking for our services and so our financial situation greatly improves.
Sometimes the relationships you make, be with clients, friends, or colleague around you grows so strong that they became somewhat like family but sometimes these relations get tainted by misunderstood and bad vibes because of third parties that not only wish to be the center of attention but can’t stand for a genuine and uninterested friendship. One of our most loved clients, for example; someone who turns out to be our friend, a great friend but because of a misunderstood or who knows for what obscure reason decided that we were not good enough to be friends or client-providers anymore. Two birds shoot with the same bullet, friendship and business alike. Although i wish the results were different, there’s nothing we can do to remedy this situation because all communication fails and it even wasn’t our fault. But as someone says, He who owes nothing, has nothing to fear, then we goes on with our journey but having learned a valuable lesson in all this.
I would never been what i am if it wasn’t for these few Friends who against all the odds stay true to friendship with real love, comprehension, devotion and worries. I cannot write about this without getting back to them and remember all the good things in my life but also the bad ones were if it wasn’t for many of them i would not be here telling you this.
If i need to give an advise to you, who take the time to read this, then it would be…
Life is not a thing to take for granted, people come and go, but the few who stays, that!, they do forever, they become not only your friends but your family.