They say that after turning 40, you start taking stock of your life. For me, it looks a little different – I’m still in beta and regularly releasing new updates.
Looking back, I came to a simple conclusion: most of my best ideas were born out of… boredom. Some people watch TV shows when they’re bored. Out of boredom, I launched internet portals, organized various ventures, studied new majors, managed projects, went abroad, and got myself tangled up in things that ended up taking up my next few years. If I ever truly had nothing to do, there’s a good chance I’d found my own country.
A one-man band and life updates
My career path is a bit like doing a Google search for ‘one-man band.’ An auto mechanic by education, an IT guy by trade, and by passion a community activist, photographer, organizer, manager, and occasionally a specialist in putting out other people’s fires. Long story short – when nobody knows who’s supposed to do something, it usually lands on me.
Life has also taught me that college isn’t meant to be finished quickly, but rather to give you something to talk about. I look back on some universities very fondly. Others probably look back on me even more fondly.
Turning 40 – a tongue-in-cheek life summary
In 2010, I decided it was time to settle down, so I got married. In 2017, I concluded you can never have too much life experience, so I got divorced. Because of that, I can now say with full conviction that a marriage instruction manual was definitely not included in the box.
For years, I’ve heard that I’m calm, patient, and hard to ruffle. It’s true. After all, an IT guy doesn’t get mad at a computer. First, he tries to fix it. Only later does he start speaking to it using very colorful language.
No private jet, but plenty of stories
I haven’t made enough for a yacht, a private jet, or a mansion with a pool. But I have racked up acquaintances, friends, memories, and enough stories to easily fill a few seasons of a TV show. Interestingly, most of them start with the words: ‘You know, there was this one idea…’
So if anyone asks me what the recipe for my first forty years was, the answer is simple: a little curiosity, a bit of stubbornness, quite a lot of coincidence, a dash of madness, and a whole lot of luck with people. The rest just happened on its own… or will happen tomorrow. After all, deadlines and I have never really gotten along.
Thanks to Facebook for remembering and to my friends for the wishes