The brevity of life

“What is the greatest surprise you have found about life?” a university student asked me several years ago. “The brevity of it,” I replied without hesitation. … Time moves so quickly, and no matter who we are or what we have done, the time will come when our lives will be over.” – Billy Graham, Nov. 5, 2009

In the concert tour business, time moves rather quickly. Reflecting back on my life, it always seemed to be measured by the artist I was working with at the time. Normally tours would last between three and six months. I am one of the lucky ones and have worked with a lot of “sane” artists which evened out all the day to day stress of managing a band.

I have a lot of friends who handled what they refer to as the “hell tours.”  These were the artists that were full of themselves, so in addition to handling the normal day to day stress, the manager had the dual role of babysitting the “insane.”

I occasionally handled one of these types of tours, but always realized, it was just a matter of time before the tour would implode and I would move on to the next one, so I just made the best of it. It sure beats the mundane nine to five job. For some folks they are more comfortable with the routine and security which I really can’t put down, but it is all a matter of calling.

At the end of the day, did you live your life to the fullest? always mindful that this is just a dress rehearsal for what lies ahead after the curtain closes here. For my friends that don’t believe there is anything on the other side of the curtain, what can I say, they are betting on some rather tough odds…….

I will never forget Bob Dylan’s answer to life in a press conference years ago “You’re going to die. You’re going to be dead. It could be 20 years, it could be tomorrow, anytime. So am I. I mean, we’re just going to be gone. The world’s going to go on without us. All right now. You do your job in the face of that, and how seriously you take yourself you decide for yourself.”

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