A couple of years ago I was misdiagnosed with lung cancer. It was only a preliminary diagnosis from an x-ray, but after several nodes were circled on my chart with “malignancy suspected” written next to them, I thought I had late stage cancer with weeks to live. What else could it be?
It turned out to be histoplasmosis shotgunned through my lung system, but for about 3 weeks while I underwent further testing, I was preparing to die.
At the time I wished I would have spent more of my life giving to others. I also wished I was more financially prepared; my kids, who would take care of them? I would never see their weddings or even graduation. How would they go to college? And for those of you reading this who really are in that situation, my heart goes out to you. For me it was a nightmare I could wake from, at least for now.
Anyway, after I found out it wasn’t terminal, my perspective on priorities shifted in a major way. One thing in particular was focused on technology. I sat back and realized what a stooge I’ve been over the years. As a developer, one thing I always detested was chasing the latest tech, always trying to decipher the tea leave to make sure I wasn’t out of work in 5 years when the wind changed direction. Feeling not much more than a pawn to large tech companies.
I realized I had so many unexplored areas that I wanted to research that were slipping away, and would always slip away if I didn’t do something about it.
So I did. I now spend my free time diving into areas that I find interesting and have even reached back in time to finish a project that I dared not before. Funny thing is, I’m still learning new things (some a complete waste of time), yet I’m much happier doing it and I’m building a new world around me while discovering new interests at the same time.
It turned out to be histoplasmosis shotgunned through my lung system, but for about 3 weeks while I underwent further testing, I was preparing to die.
At the time I wished I would have spent more of my life giving to others. I also wished I was more financially prepared; my kids, who would take care of them? I would never see their weddings or even graduation. How would they go to college? And for those of you reading this who really are in that situation, my heart goes out to you. For me it was a nightmare I could wake from, at least for now.
Anyway, after I found out it wasn’t terminal, my perspective on priorities shifted in a major way. One thing in particular was focused on technology. I sat back and realized what a stooge I’ve been over the years. As a developer, one thing I always detested was chasing the latest tech, always trying to decipher the tea leave to make sure I wasn’t out of work in 5 years when the wind changed direction. Feeling not much more than a pawn to large tech companies.
I realized I had so many unexplored areas that I wanted to research that were slipping away, and would always slip away if I didn’t do something about it.
So I did. I now spend my free time diving into areas that I find interesting and have even reached back in time to finish a project that I dared not before. Funny thing is, I’m still learning new things (some a complete waste of time), yet I’m much happier doing it and I’m building a new world around me while discovering new interests at the same time.