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For One Day Longer
 

Edmundo Braverman's picture
ST
(Human, 14,368
 
Points)
 on 9/8/12 at 7:30am
UA 175 Tower 2.jpeg

Andy note: "Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from September 2011 . If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.

I'm going to keep this short because I have no doubt that you'll be inundated with 9/11 remembrances all weekend. To say it changed all of our lives would be a gross understatement. The tragedy taught me a valuable lesson, though, and maybe it'll mean something to you as well.

I was living on the West Coast ten years ago, and my clock radio woke me up on the morning of 9/11. The normally goofy morning show guys were talking a mile a minute and I heard that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. They were saying it was probably a private plane and that there was no word on injuries or deaths yet. So I rolled over and turned on CNN. A couple minutes later I watched in horror as United 75 slammed into Tower 2. At first I thought it was a replay of the first crash. Then I realized the other tower was already burning and I'd just witnessed the worst terrorist attack in American history.

My first thought was for my boys at the NYBOT in building 4. They all made it out. The Cantor Fitzgerald crew wasn't so lucky. Almost 700 of them died that day, more than half the company.

I was at a point in my life where I was just coasting. I was 32 years old, I owned a company that bored me to tears, and lying next to me in bed was a woman I didn't love. The only passion in my life was a novel I'd just written that I was set to pitch to agents at a literary festival in New Orleans a couple weeks later.

I tore myself away from the TV after a couple hours and made my way to my office. My secretary was a mess, so I sent her home. And I sat there alone in my office and thought about what my life had become.

A business I hated.

A loveless marriage.

My only coping mechanism the bottle I crawled inside each night.

And I asked myself, "Is this what you want to be doing when some crazy asshole flies a plane into your building? Is this where you wanna be?"

Then I finally asked myself the real question:

"If you're not doing what you love enough to do it for the rest of your life, why the hell would you do it for one day longer?"

"You know you're not gonna be married to her for the rest of your life. Why are you wasting her time and yours? Why would you do it for one day longer?"

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't have an answer. There was no reason to do any of it for one day longer.

A couple weeks later I left my wife. I know that sounds harsh, but it was the best thing for both of us. With the exception of a couple of paintings and an '82 Dom Perignon Cuvée Rosé that had sentimental value to me, I gave her everything we had just to cushion the blow.

Over the next month I shut down my company. This was easier than it sounds, thanks to the recent repeal of Glass-Steagall. I was in the insurance business at the time and my largest carrier (who held roughly 85% of my business - another lesson learned the hard way) got burned trying to get into the mortgage racket and had to pull out of my state anyway. Rather than double down on a business I couldn't stand, I walked away.

Over the many times I'd visited New Orleans, I fell in love with the place. So I decided that would be home. I didn't know anyone there. I didn't have a job there. I didn't even have a place to live. But I threw what would fit in the back of my truck and a U-Haul trailer and just figured I'd make it work. My best friend was equally disillusioned with his life, so he decided to join me.

The rest, as they say, is history.

My point in all this is that crazy, sometimes evil, shit happens all the time. You never know if you're gonna get hit by a bus tomorrow, or some dickhead's gonna blow you up for something you had nothing to do with. You can't control that stuff.

What you can control is how you live your life. Please, guys, please don't waste it doing something you hate. I understand that you sometimes have to do something you hate for awhile in order to achieve something you're passionate about. That's another thing entirely, and sacrifice is a big part of success. But to just find yourself in a rut and do nothing about it is unacceptable.

If you're not doing something you love enough to do it the rest of your life, why would you do it for one day longer? Please don't waste your life. Every man dies. Not every man lives. Take risks. Love recklessly. The folks who went to work in those towers that morning 10 years ago would tell you the same thing.

In a New York minute everything can change.

Tags:

Comments

MissingNo.'s picture

You're making me reconsider

CO
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 7:00am

You're making me reconsider this bowl of ramen I'm eating on hour three of my friday morning in the office at less than half the pay of most first year monkeys on here.

Goddamnit.

Still not sure if I want to spend the next 30+ years grinding away in corporate finance and the WSO dream chase or look to have enough passive income to live simply and work minimally.

In The Flesh's picture

Eddie, this deserves a spot

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,811
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 8:11am

Eddie, this deserves a spot in the top five posts you've ever written. Thank you and keep on rolling!

Head of Metal Website: www.headofmetal.com

https://twitter.com/headofmetal2012

Rhino85's picture

Good to head into this

PE
(Monkey, 65
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 8:37am

Good to head into this weekend on a life-affirming note. Thanks

tupsi22's picture

>>And I asked myself, "Is

(Monkey, 63
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 9:28am

>>And I asked myself, "Is this what you want to be doing when some crazy asshole flies a plane into your building? Is this where you wanna be?"<<

Beautifully said. I thought the same thing as I watched those towers collapse 10 yrs ago. We had to evacuate our bldg because we were right next to the Empire State Building and everyone thought that would be next. What you wrote really hit home because it was at that moment a switch flipped in my brain and I realized "None of this f-ing matters. All that matters is friends and family and love. Money.does.not.matter." And it changed me for the better.

Ben Shalom Bernanke's picture

Awesome post Eddie, makes one

AM
(King Kong, 1,423
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 9:32am

Awesome post Eddie, makes one reflect. +1

16rl's picture

Great post. I'm glad you are

 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 9:50am

Great post. I'm glad you are sharing your life experiences with us, such posts will be useful later in life.

aspiringconsultant's picture

inspiring.

CO
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 9:51am

inspiring.

manbearpig's picture

Great post.

CO
(Neanderthal, 3,029
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 10:03am

Great post.

-MBP

wallstdj's picture

Thank you for this post.

IB
(Baboon, 150
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 9:54am

Thank you for this post.

Awesome post. Thanks!

MTrader (not verified)
(Chimp, 0
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 9:58am

Awesome post. Thanks!

Banker88's picture

manbearpig wrote: The

IB
(King Kong, 1,650
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 10:05am
manbearpig:

The greatest tragedy about 9/11 is that it was the catalyst for all of the devastation the US caused in the middle east.

Good post Eddie. Sucks that you have to witness or experience a near-death experience in order to appreciate life a bit more every now and then. Happened to me one morning walking to school when I almost got hit by a cab.

But the greatest tragedy is that our own government, at the very least, let this attack happen. Don't mean to start a 9/11 conspiracy argument here though.

karypto's picture

Well written.

EN
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 10:24am

Well written.

B-Rock89's picture

Amen brother.

ST
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 10:44am

Amen brother.

manbearpig's picture

Banker88 wrote: manbearpig

CO
(Neanderthal, 3,029
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 10:49am
Banker88:
manbearpig:

The greatest tragedy about 9/11 is that it was the catalyst for all of the devastation the US caused in the middle east.

Good post Eddie. Sucks that you have to witness or experience a near-death experience in order to appreciate life a bit more every now and then. Happened to me one morning walking to school when I almost got hit by a cab.

But the greatest tragedy is that our own government, at the very least, let this attack happen. Don't mean to start a 9/11 conspiracy argument here though.

I initially wrote that comment thinking the post was about something else. I changed it when I read the rest of the post. I stand by my comment, but I think it's not appropriate for this thread.

-MBP

koske's picture

Well written. +1 Sometimes

ST
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 10:53am

Well written. +1

Sometimes you have to endure a near death experience to realize what is of value to you. To re-evaluate your priorities, make a plan, and move forward.

Interesting post, to say the least.

- Cheers

- Only time will tell....

tyrets's picture

I watched everything that

ST
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 10:59am
EMoney0525's picture

Awesome post!

ST
(Chimp, 1
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 11:38am
txjustin's picture

Absolutely excellent post!

O
(Neanderthal, 2,447
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 12:10pm
juniormistmaker's picture

Fantastic post. Thanks for

IB
(Baboon, 131
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 12:46pm
ST Monkey's picture

Great post and I too share a

ST
(Orangutan, 314
 
Points)
 on 9/9/11 at 1:36pm
TheWizeNut's picture

MissingNo. wrote: You're

CO
(Monkey, 41
 
Points)
 on 9/10/11 at 11:30am
happypantsmcgee's picture

It just made me want to kill

O
(Almost Human, 9,621
 
Points)
 on 9/10/11 at 2:32pm

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford

Walkerr's picture

Excellent post. Makes you

IB
(Gorilla, 570
 
Points)
 on 9/11/11 at 7:11am
TooFad's picture

so, the plane flied into

(Chimp, 5
 
Points)
 on 9/8/12 at 8:47am
mapr89's picture

Best post I've ever read

PE
(Baboon, 102
 
Points)
 on 9/8/12 at 8:59am
cakepie's picture

well written.

CF
(Orangutan, 300
 
Points)
 on 9/8/12 at 2:22pm
kyleyboy's picture

God dammit that was a fucking

HF
(Gorilla, 741
 
Points)
 on 9/8/12 at 4:07pm

I help people with the tough situation of not knowing how to respond to emails.

fearless's picture

I was in the 6th grade when

O
 
Points)
 on 9/8/12 at 7:28pm
SirTradesaLot's picture

It kind of blows my mind that

 
Points)
 on 9/8/12 at 7:44pm

Turbo leverage for capital explosion -- BD Capital

My WSO Blog

Interest.ed's picture

That day changed a lot of

 
Points)
 on 9/9/12 at 3:08am
In The Flesh's picture

Just as illuminating as when

HF
(Neanderthal, 2,811
 
Points)
 on 9/9/12 at 1:20pm

Head of Metal Website: www.headofmetal.com

https://twitter.com/headofmetal2012

Cicero's picture

I'm reading this as I center

IB
(Baboon, 106
 
Points)
 on 9/11/12 at 6:52pm

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