I think it’s time for me to dust off my personal site and add a blog there: a place where I can share topics that probably don’t have a place on this blog which is increasingly read by people that “probably” don’t care about my personal life.
But, of all of the blogs in the Blogger Mojo network, HipMojo.com is probably the closest one to a personal blog.
If you noticed the absolute lack of posts today, it’s wasn’t because I was swamped beyond belief or there weren’t enough interesting topics to tackle, it’s that my 97-year old grandma passed away last night. I wish I could live to 79, let alone 97!
Almost two years ago to the day, my then colleague/friend’s brother passed away at the age of 21 in an accident. I was shocked and saddened beyond belief and questioned everything about life, how could someone so young be taken away in such a way?
This morning when my dad called at 9am, I knew immediately why he was calling. Naturally it was a very, very sad moment, but she passed away peacefully last night. When I hung up, it wasn’t like I had anywhere to go, but I just knew that I should go see my parents.
I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit this, but I actually had an important call at 10am. I thought of canceling it, but doing so would have been at the detriment of my colleagues and team (as founder and CEO of a company, I have a responsibility to my colleagues and staff, after all), so I took it.
Of course, I also have a greater responsibility to my family, so I contemplated what the right call would be and I asked myself what my grandmother would have done. My grandmother didn’t work in the traditional sense of the word, but lord knows she worked extremely hard to raise my mother and her four grand children… so I’m sure she could relate to my dilemma. She also sacrificed quite a bit for us.
I think sacrifice is a big piece of the puzzle when it comes to being successful. The saying “how badly do you want it” is a testament of that. Be it in sports, entertainment, business or life, it always boils down to persistence and determination, but to get what you want, you have to sacrifice, too.
My grandmother was the only grandparent I ever had. She had one child: my mom. And, when we moved from Iran (aka, candidate #1 on George Bush’ Axis of Evil) to Canada - via Spain - my parents didn’t want to leave her behind alone, so they in turn sacrificed a lot more by bringing her with us. Having a Farsi-speaking 70-year old elderly woman around isn’t obvious when you try to start your life from scratch in a new country, but it was a non-issue for my parents.
We were fortunate to have someone so generous and wise raise us. Maybe that’s why I am such a good cook now, because I learned from the best. More importantly, she was a great human being, a heart the size of Greenland.
Ultimately, she taught me the importance of sacrifice: if you want to be successful in life, you have to be able to sacrifice not only for yourself, and your loved ones, but also for those around you. Her definition of success did not include P&L statements, market share reports and growth rates… but those are details that with time get blurry.
I’m sure my parents are very proud of my accomplishments, but I probably wasn’t the best son or grandson in many ways, partially because I focused too much on my professional career. I guess I sacrificed some things personally and on the family front to succeed professionally. I am surely not alone there, and I’m not writing this as a cliched reminder to “spend time with loved one.”
I’m writing this because everyone sacrifices, though in different ways.
- My grandmother was probably criticized by her sisters and family for picking up and leaving her native country to be with her daughter and grand-children;
- my parents were probably criticized for uprooting a 70 year old woman and bringing her across the globe, but ultimately, I got to spend my entire life with my grandma, something that most people can’t say they had the chance to do.
We all sacrifice in our own way, I guess the lesson at the end of the day is to make sure that sacrifices are worthwhile.
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