“I was just waiting to die,” my friend told me yesterday. He suffered a heart attack a decade or so ago, sold his business, moved to a city with good medical facilities, but essentially gave up. To pass the time, however, he tried all kinds of new activities – painting, gardening, photography – until one day he decided to try writing. Voila! Since then, he has published more than two dozen books and has a huge fan base. And, no surprise, his health has improved. He’s a self-professed story teller (his wife said he has a criminal’s mind) who had a lot to learn. Readers liked his first couple books, but their feedback was that he needed an editor. He went through several of them before finding a good one. Then there were self-publishing, cover design, marketing, and speaking to master. He treats this new career like a business and he has been quite successful. He even wrote a “how-to” book of self-publishing which has sold well.
For my friend, the heart attack changed the direction of his life. His first reaction was to give up, but then he rallied and decided to live instead. He was willing to experiment at anything that even remotely interested him until he found his new passion. Had you asked him years ago if he could picture being a successful writer, he would undoubtedly have laughed.
I think it was Yogi Berra who said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Don’t just stand there immobilized! Often what seems to be life-ending is simply a “fork.” And, perhaps like my friend, you’ll come across several forks until an unexpected path leads you to your new passion. Waiting to die, or live – it’s your choice. You don’t need a heart attack to get going.