At the end of the day, we're all just the same
Recently, I came across an Instagram post of Bruce Willis, surrounded by his family on his birthday. I didn’t know he had dementia. I live under a rock and only find out about things like this if they’re posted on Instagram. I know, it’s embarrassing, but we’re not talking about me here.
Anyway, it made me realize that at the end of the day, we’re all the same. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how famous you are, we are all capable of getting sick. And we will all eventually pass.
What this video made me realize, however, was that this is how I would like to live my old age. Of course I’m basing this assumption on one video, and no one truly knows what one’s family is like if they’re not actually in it, but based on what I saw, I know that I, too, would want to be surrounded by friends and family during tough times. And in order to make sure that happens, I need to invest in them now.
Honestly, that’s why I’ve been traveling so much to LA for these quick weekend get togethers… because subconsciously, I know that I’m getting older, and friends and family will be all I have left.
On a related note, my 8 year old daughter asked my husband recently what his dream was. And he said, “my dream is that when you and your brother are older and living away from home, you’ll willingly want to come home for the holidays and breaks”. Mind. Blown. Kudos to my hubs for saying something so deep! If she had asked me first, my answer would’ve been something like “have endless money to travel the world with you guys and fly in business class”. Lame.
But anyway, the point is, if we want our kids to come home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and winter and summer breaks, we need to invest in them now. We need to spend time with them, pay attention to them, be available to them, and be present.
I’m sad for Bruce Willis that he has dementia and is living a hard life, but I’m also happy for him for having lived a good and full life, enough for his family to want to be around him. What an incredible actor who played in so many movies I watched growing up. I don’t know his full story, but I’m thankful to him and the Instagram post for reminding me of this valuable lesson.
(I know, this post wasn’t EA related… but if I were to make it EA related, I’d say that at the end of the day, we are all humans prone to the same destiny. So it doesn’t actually matter what title someone holds or how long someone has been at the company or whether you support the CEO or how much money someone has after selling their company. What matters is working hard, being kind, being helpful, being impactful.
Also, in the same vein, what happens to all these people, and even you and I, if we are stripped of external things like titles, fame, and money, and we only have ourselves? Who are we then and what matters then? I think the person you are when you don’t have any of those things is the true you, and the one people will want to or not want to be around later in life.)