Your dad still is a fixer.. Reading about his life and his values is reaffirming, and fixed a little part of me at a time when I needed it. Thank you for sharing his memory with the world, and RIP to big Russ!!
Thanks for writing this. I consider myself as a fixer and builder but often wonder if this nature of mine has gotten me more trouble than otherwise.
To fix or build something for someone is so rewarding that you sometimes forget to do your own mundane but important stuff. Soon things accumulate and you deeply regret having been tinkering at things that doesn't really "matter".
But one way of looking at this is that atleast some of those people never forget me and are often happy to help me back in ways I could have never anticipated. Sometimes while helping others, I get to learn something really cool which becomes a bigger reward in itself.
After reading this, I feel that perhaps we are, after all social beings, probably instinctively acting this way. It gives true happiness to oneself and others. Perhaps that's what matters in the long run.
They say the mechanic's car is the most neglected and that's often true. But if helping others is what makes you happy no reason to change it. And yes not everyone appreciates it, but many do and it's worthwhile.
Our universe, maybe. We each live in our own bubbles with only ourselves and the people we interact with. The actual universe is incomprehensibly massive, and the entire human race doesn't come close to making a dent in it. Helps to keep things in perspective.
Being pedantic much? We are our universe, this is true. What matters to us are other people and the systems we live in. You're not going to go far trying to make friends with a star. If we are the only conscious beings in the universe, then maybe humanity is the most important thing in the universe, no?
Oh dear, we are the universe and you make this universe go.
And you are part of everything as everything else would not exist without you.
But yeah, kind of makes no sense if you do not believe in it.
And you are not required to believe in it, that is the beauty of this universe, you can come up with anything you want to believe in and it will be true.
Sad to see such a person go, but great to see that his life and values carry on to his kids and his grandchildren.
And your advise is a good reminder:
> Life is not about chasing dollars and buying fancy toys it’s about doing what you love and taking care of others.
It took me a while for that really sink in, but I truly believe it. There's nothing wrong with those fancy toys when you can do it, but family and friends are what really matters.
> He taught me early on that what really matters is gaining happiness by helping others around you. If you have a talent, use it. If you are dreaming of something, build it.
That's a great quote and great life strategy, thanks!
I miss a world with more people like that. Too bad that sometimes those people die to early.
I had a uncle, that was like that, I never met a person that disliked him, I remember he doing some crazy stuff, like one day when his car stopped near the church, and 8 or 9 kids came out, the his wife came from the wheel, then he showed up. My dad was on the sidewalk looking, and made a "how???" face. The uncle replied: " oh, I went lied down, and the kids on top of me" and then he laughed like a Santa would.
He never built a dragster, or anything fancy, but he could fix most toys and some small electronics, like videogames and portable radios, and I never saw him not smiling, and I never saw him failing to make a kid smile...
Until the day a truck doing a illegal overtake crashed in the front of his car.
Then this day, I saw about 5000 people crammed into the church crying. His death was the biggest funeral I ever saw in person.
Sorry to hear that. It's the little stuff that people remember, like your uncle laying in the car with the kids on top of him. People don't have to be rich powerful or famous to make their mark and make the lives of their family better. Sorry to hear about your loss as well.
Thank you. He told me several times he was proud but never liked it when I turned it back on him and told him and my mother were the most responsible for my success lol.
