Personal

This was the title of a Jack Reacher book. Not kidding.

And it was a pretty well written Jack Reacher book. I’ve talked about my whodunnits and trashy books, and maybe there can be something to be said about this post.

I’ve always toyed with the idea of what makes something successful, and if I’ve ever hit that level. I think I’ve reached my personal levels of success in many ways, and one of them is staying alive actually.

I’ve always thought I was going to die when I was 12, or that Jesus Christ would come back and I wouldn’t need to go to secondary school. The world continued on, and I had to go to school the next year.

I thought I would die after my O level’s because I wasn’t sure if I would have made it into design, and my preliminary results from the internal tests were shit. And instead, I did well enough to get into design, and continue on.

I thought I was going to die in army, multiple times. I thought I thought I was going to die in BMT, I thought I was going to die in OCS, I thought I was going to die Brunei, Taiwan. I thought I was going to die in Tekong. I thought I was going to die in Reservist too. I’ve been lost in the jungle on my own a few too many times.

I thought I was going to die on the plane a few times. One of them was when there was a sharp descent, and I had a few beers on the flight. Sinuses were clogged, and I could not function at all. I thought my eyeballs were going to pop out of my skull. It was horrible. Other times were turbulence related.

I thought I was going to die a few times after drinking and eating. Death by over eating or alcohol poisoning. I tend to binge when eating and drinking with friends and family.

I thought I was going to die exercising. Either the heat was too much, or my legs were just aching beyond belief. Once I was dropped from a rock climbing session, and I thought I was dead then for sure.

So in some sense, big personal success just for staying alive.

Good thought for turning 35 ey.