Trees are in full bloom and the birds are chirping as I step out of the office building. It's late May and it's already warm outside by the time I pull my car out of the parking lot to make my rounds. Today we're going to drive around the city and look at a couple of jobs, and as we do that we're going to talk about some things. Mostly we're going to talk about losses, and that can mean anything from a minor hiccup on the job to a major life changing event. We're also going to talk about some tools or mental framework we could possibly use to recover from those losses. (See the corresponding video below for work detail and concrete application)
So after a few days not hearing back from the gentleman who was working on the damaged hard drive to try and recover the data, I braced myself for the worst when I finally spoke with him over the phone. "I cannot recover the data," he explained, and then listed off some other options or next steps for taking it to someone with more powerful tools or resources to extract the data. The fee on those services is a cost I cannot afford, and at that point I humbly accepted my fate. A couple months' worth of professional filming, documenting and vlogging was on that hard drive. And the backup? Oh...that was the backup. Catch the back story in the previous post...
A lost data card pales in comparison to the loss of a loved one, imprisonment, relationship trauma or bodily injury. These are some examples of a major loss that, in many cases, can never be fully recovered from. I watched a documentary one time about a young man whose entire life was defined by tragedy and loss. He grew up without parents or family in the slums of a major city, and did what he could to survive. At one point discussing his lot in life, he gazed into the distance and said, "Some things you never get over, they just become a part of you."
So we go through life and we experience a little loss here, as children, and a little loss there, as adults. We suffer greater losses and the lesser ones no longer have as strong of an impact on us. We are able to sympathize with the losses of others and speak confidently and compassionately on topics that an inexperienced man could not even begin to articulate. It is as if we, by having accepted our losses as a part of our life experience, have literally had to grow within in order to digest and encompass the tragedy that is now a part of us. If we were to take that same experience, say the loss of a loved one, for example, and try to somehow deny to ourselves that it happened, we would probably not grow much in the process.
There are many ways we can refuse to accept a tragedy or a major loss, and somehow deny to ourselves that it happened. We can do this with drugs, alcohol, entertainment, shopping, etc. The problem with this approach is that if we refuse to accept and deal with the things life throws our way, we don't mature as individuals. We remain ill equipped and incapable of handling major life changing events as they arise. We waddle in the naivete of an eternal childlike state. And that would be the sum total of our existence.
I believe I will take the way of the warrior. I'll accept my losses in life and be a greater man because of it. Because for each loss that I endure, each painful experience that I feel and accept as my own, I am larger inside. I am stronger and more equipped to deal with an even more adversarial future. I am concrete, poured to the ground. Fluid and strong, I am sound...
Here's the external hard drive that took a spill and lost all the data. It wasn't even a hard spill, but it happened while transferring data. At any rate, I probably won't buy another one of these. This is a Seagate Portable 2TB External Hard Drive HDD — USB 3.0 for PC, Mac, PlayStation, & Xbox -1-Year Rescue Service (STGX2000400)
Here's what we're replacing the damaged hard drive with. I've actually used these for several years while travelling and never had any problems with them. They were kicked around, tossed into drawers, slammed on the desks and handled recklessly but continued to perform. This is the Western Digital 4TB My Passport Portable External Hard Drive with backup software and password protection, Black - WDBPKJ0040BBK-WESN
See the full corresponding video to this blog below.
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