Wednesday Words of Wisdom #127
Last week the world lost a legend. A man that transcended sport. A Hero in the truest sense of the word.
Muhammad Ali wasn’t just a boxer, he was a showman, a political activist, a poet and an ambassador for peace.
The first time I became aware of home was through my Granda.
He loved boxing and he passed that love on to me.
I used to remember him dancing around the kitchen in a mock ‘Ali Shuffle’ letting on he was about to ‘throw some bombs’.
It’s moments like this that stick with you long after someone leaves you.
Last week, as the report came in that Ali had shuffled off this mortal coil, it was a testament to what kind of a man he truly was when you read the many touching tributes written about him.
Yes, this man was a boxing talent that will be nigh on impossible to match but he was so much more than that.
The choices he made in his life are well documented and I have no need to repeat them here, but it is these choices that elevate him above mere sports star status.
This gave me a lot to think about.
One day I will die.
You will too. Sorry to spring that on you if you had never contemplated it, but its coming.
What will they say about you when you are gone?
What will they say about the life you lived, the choices you made and the way you left the world you inhabited?
Some of you will say, ‘I don’t care, sure I’ll be gone.’
True, but take a second and indulge me.
The average life expectancy in the UK as of writing this article is 81.5 years. That’s 4249 weeks, 29,747 days, 713,940 hours and 42,835,680 minutes to make your mark, to live the one life that you’re going to get, the one you’ve always wanted.
I don’t know about you but I waste a shit ton of those minutes on unnecessary trivialities.
Things that offer me no joy, serve me or anyone else any purpose and that have just become habit if truth be told.
Take another look at the number of days you have on Earth IF you live to 81 and a half.
I turned 30 last Thursday. I have 18,797 days left.
Realising that shit will wake you the f*#k up.
What are you waiting for? Whose permission do you need to get up off your ass and be the one that “shook up the world”?
Are you happy just to float through your life like a butterfly or would you rather sting like a bee? Would you rather coast all the way to the grave or are you ready to stand up and fight for the life that you deserve?
A healthy body, a peaceful mind and a happy you are just some of the things you deserve right now. You can do whatever you choose to do if you just believe, take action and work your ass off.
Muhammad Ali took up boxing because his bike got stolen and he wanted to ‘be able to whoop whoever did it’.
Consider this your wake up call.
Consider your bike stolen.
“Rumble young man, rumble.”