You’ll get a good laugh if you check out my new book’s Amazon page. Along with four great business books I’m proud to be in the company of, customers who bought my book apparently also bought … wait for it … Bayer Aspirin.
Let’s take a minute to process that. Besides Peter Thiel’s Zero to One and Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things, folks buying my book are also tossing a bottle of aspirin into their shopping carts. I’m not sure how to take that.
Now, before you make that causal leap and conclude that my writing gives people headaches, you should know that it’s not just any kind of Aspirin they’re buying. It’s the 81 mg low dose kind, the kind people at risk of heart attacks and those who suffer from chronic aches and pains buy.
You know, old people.
Now, I’ve just got to ask, if you look at the pics on my ”About” page, do I look old to you? Of course I don’t look old. I look great … for my age.
You know, when people start telling you that it means just one thing. It means your best days are behind you. It means you’re getting old.
The thing is, I’m totally cool with that.
Look, I’ve been around a long time and it’s been a fun ride … as in a crazy rollercoaster ride. As long as I can still run and play and work, I’m a happy guy. People get weird about aging. Let’s face it. Unless you’re 19, we’re all in various stages of deteriorating health. But as long as you can get around and do your thing, you’re good to go.
I think it was Leonard Nimoy who said that, at 70ish, he felt more comfortable in his own skin – you know, like the Spock character he so famously portrayed in Star Trek – than ever before in his life. Then he died. Ironic, I know. But that’s how it works. Wisdom comes late in life. So does self-awareness. And then you die.
The point is … wait, where was I going with that? Sorry, just a senior moment. I remember now.
The point is, life is a funny thing. You set all these goals, drive yourself and everyone around you nuts trying to achieve them, then one day you wake up and realize that life is what happened while you were trying to get from point A to point B. And you missed it.
Not me. No freakin’ way. I’m going to make every day count. And you know what really gets me going these days? Writing. And I’m going to keep writing until they pry this MacBook Air out of my cold dead hands.
Today – two days shy of a year since I signed my first book deal – the UPS guy brought me two boxes of beautiful bound books with my name on them. And you know what? It’s a good day. Today, I’m an author. Halle-freakin-lujah.
OK, so I worked my ass off this past year achieving that, but I felt it — every single agonizing and wonderful day of it. And nobody can ever take that away from me. That’s an experience I’ll happily take to my grave. And you know what? It feels really good. Good for me.
Right now, I’m having a margarita. Then I’ll have some wine with dinner. Tomorrow, I’ll be a little hung over. Just can’t drink like I used to. But hey, that’s just the way it is. And I’m cool with that. C’est la vie.
Better yet, join me in a toast. Vive la vie.
(Image Flickr user thelastminute)