My youngest uncle's story is quite similar I'd say, his marriage didn't workout and he didn't get the chance to have kids.
He's been through a lot in life, he had to keep himself steady for most of his life. Thus, he thought that having kids wouldn't be so wise. So he spent his life taking care of stray animals and riding big powerful classic bikes. His style was quite similar to Sly Stallone from Rocky and he was quite fit too. Even now in his early 50s he's still fit and hits the gym every now and then.
He might not have kids of his own, yet he's still a natural when it comes to handling kids, amazing in some ways. Me and my brothers, our cousins, we've always received unbounded amounts of love from him. When others would judge and be harsh, he would be the most understanding and supportive. He is the one only who used spoil us; I still remember that he was the one who got me my first toy gun, then a of miniature cars, chocolates.
He's a part of some of my best childhood memories. Alas, nowadays he's busy working and so am I, so we don't have much time to talk or meet. But, last month we did speak on the phone, and he's still as jolly and lively, most energetic and high-spirited man in the family, no doubts.
He sounds like a good sort, and I get the impression he was a large part of your life when you were growing up, that he had a positive influence and impact upon you.
I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to give you some unsolicited advice about this.
Make time. You may regret not doing so later in your life, so do it now.
Yup, he is the closest from all of my uncles. My brothers and cousins will agree as well. We all get along well.
Not at all, not at all, a little bit of advice is always appreciated; as I always try to look at things from the other person's or advisor's perspective.
I surely will, because we'll probably be visiting my uncles this Eid. They all still live in the area where I grew up, it's just my family who had to move because of work and education purposes. Hopefully everything goes as planned.
I know it can be difficult to fit everything into our busy schedules, but I guess we need to look at what's important and prioritise them. So many times I've heard people say, I should have done thins, said that, made more effort to see... People die and we will lose the opportunity to engage with them forever, it makes sense to engage with those we value whilst they're around.
That's just been my experience.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. In modern times we get so caught up with life, making money, trying to be successful, achieving status, maintaining that "grind mindset", sooner or later some of us regret how we spent our lives.
When you take a closer look, you'll realize that family, friends and the memories we have with them, that's what matters the most in the end. These memories don't fade. And if these memories could be bought back or relived through the use of money, then a lot of people would be happier.
I used to be quite money driven, still am, but it doesn't control me anymore. I was a lot more outgoing, busy wasting time and money and being "selfish", but nowadays I'd rather stay back at home. Be with my parents, talk to them, help them out or my younger brothers.
Money is important, but you can't be so busy making money and "living life" that you end up fully disregarding your loved ones. I've made a decent amount of money, I've also lost a lot more. I know that I'm capable of making money, I was always good with it, the thrills of life aren't going anywhere either; so for now my main focus is on family and the memories we create together.
Because I really don't know how much time we all have here, and that's what kills me every day.
I couldn't say it better, you have summed it all up quite nicely.
Over the past few years I've been trying to build in these positive changes and the value of togetherness among the family members. We've been running low on optimism lately, times have been tough; yet, these tough times have only brought us together.
Hopefully we'll get through this together, and then live to tell the tale.
Continuous improvement is a much better goal to seek than perfection, or a version of it. It's more sustainable, and much more productive. Keep pushing on.