An open letter to me on my eighty-second birthday

Dear Laban,

Happy 82nd birthday to you!

Forty-one years since I wrote this.

I’m so very excited for you. You always planned to live to 150 you’re well on your way by now.

Do you remember what you did for your 41st birthday?

27th June 2021, A trip away to the beautiful sunshine coast with your soon to be wife Anna. Visiting your younger brother, sister-in-law and their four beautiful kids. Paradise in a place relatively removed from the oppressive nature of your current hometown of Melbourne, Victoria.

If you remember, you had two choices to make back then.

The first was to allow yourself to be caught up in the hysteria of what was happening in the world, or second, to simply focus on the wonderful abundance you already have. Then to forge ahead trying to make a positive impact on the world.

You found it very tough to make that brave decision, but I’m so happy for us that you did.

For many, their decision to be caught up in the negativity of the pandemic was too much to bear.

Many suffered more than that they could take and decided death was a preferred option. Not many could blame them. The media did a helluva job of scaring the pants off almost everybody and fear became the newest form of currency.

People turned on each other online and in-person and political divides created new enemies. Virtue signalling was registered as a professional sport and people got damned good at it. Rationality went the way of the dodo.

They demonised meat, praised toxic seed oils and blindly followed rich computer nerds that had their best intentions at heart. They believed experimental drugs could save the world, and ignored history with such brazen disregard. It was impressive as it was scary to watch.

Mentally sturdy people cried out for support and the vulnerable shifted from barely existing to just plain surviving.

But you stayed true to your path, purpose, and beliefs. You were proven correct with regards to much of your intuition and gut feelings.

You watched friends, family and acquaintances loath you for your brave decisions, but later come around and be your number one supporters.

You made mistakes and errors in judgement but had the humility to admit fault.

But most importantly, you never gave up. Like your distant relative via marriage, Winston Churchill…..you never, ever gave up.

Happy Birthday old boy, you deserve all the happiness in the world.

Forty-one-year-old Laban