Inhabit your dreams. Don’t wait.
A harsh reminder we all need
Hi there,
I have started and restarted this newsletter many times. Between getting on a flight, being in India with family, and getting the news of the sudden death of a dear friend Aysha Griffin.
Aysha was a writer and entrepreneur who I met in Spain, back in 2007. We connected through the writing community, hit it off immediately, and have been in touch ever since.
She was a free spirit, always living her life to the fullest, and connecting and guiding people on the way. She owns the google search term “inhabit your dreams” - if you Google it, her website is the first result - and she embodied the term.
Ayesha was found dead in her apartment in Sant Feliu de Guixois, Catalonia on February 6; my birthday. Not long after her own birthday on January 31. Cause of death was a heart attack. I’m guessing she was in her late 50’s.
About a year ago she interviewed me about my book which was all about having the courage to follow your dreams; she was a big proponent of it. We have been exchanging messages ever since. She was one of my biggest supporters of this newsletter.
The reason I am sharing this with you today is that it is a harsh reminder that life is short and we don’t know which day will be our last.
“Happy Birthday! You're one year closer to death.”
This is the start of an email I get on my birthday every year from Ryan Holiday as I subscribe to his Daily Stoic. Not the nicest email to wake up to, but a desperate reminder that we all need.
The Stoics believed that the thought of death should always be on your mind. It should give you a sense of urgency, and help you eliminate the inessential from your life. It should determine how you treat people, and expect to be treated. In his book, Meditations, Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote that “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
As working mums, we are known to pause our ambitions and prioritize everything around us but ourselves. “I’ll do it tomorrow; I’ll do it when my son is five; I’ll do it when I am ready.”
The truth is, tomorrow may not come and you will never be ready.
“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us,” writes Steven Pressfield in his book the War of Art, a line that hit me like a rock when I heard it (audible).
So my message for you today is, if there is anything you are putting on hold, press the play button now or you may never get the chance to.
With all my love,
Abha x
A beautiful post Abha. I am really sorry for your loss