Recently a coworker of mine passed away from cancer. He was in his early 30s with a wife and two young children. It was a tragic story. Over the past year he started his battle with cancer and he was in and out of work. He came in when he felt strong enough to. He was working with marketing and the business development team on a few projects. His small ideas turned into bigger ones over the years, even before I started working there.
He had a note posted to the corner his computer screen that said,
My life may not be easy, but it’s awesome.
It was a note that he wrote to himself. A constant reminder to keep moving. My boss grabbed it and had a bunch of copies made for anyone to have. I now have one at my desk. Every time I look at it, it reminds me how easy my life actually is, even when it sucks. It reminds me even more that I have one of the greatest jobs in the world.
I get to create.
This morning I woke up with a thought that rolls through my mind a lot. It scares the shit out of me to think about it actually.
What if the last thing I ever made was truly the last thing I ever created?
It makes you wonder how often we actually give our all to things in life. Even when they are not something personal. Even when they are something for a client, for our employer or for anyone. Just because it’s not for ourselves doesn’t mean it’s not a representation of ourselves and our character.
So think about that. What if the most recent thing you finished was the last part of you to be brought into this world? It’s scary to think about.
It puts enough fear in me to keep progress at the heart of what I do. It’s not always easy, but it’s awesome.
Published with Desk PM
