Appreciating Life & The Unknown
Ben Higgins
Feb 19 2015, 04:24 PM
Instructor
Posts: 13.792
Joined: 11-March 10
From: England
I've just recently read that Bruce Dickinson has been through treatment for cancer.

http://www.ironmaiden.com/bruce-dickinson-...-treatment.html

Thankfully, it seems like they've caught it early and all the signs are positive that he'll make a full recovery, which is excellent. Frankly, a world without Bruce and Maiden isn't a world I like the sound of so here's to seeing him back with Maiden later in the year !

This news got me thinking about two things. Firstly about the role Bruce and Maiden have played in my life.

As it says on my GMC profile, Maiden's 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' album changed my life. Up until that point, I'd been listening to Guns n Roses and Van Halen. Before that it was, errr.... Michael Jackson. Kids, eh ? But I discovered a cassette tape of 'Seventh Son..' and started playing it. I was blown away.

It sounded so much more 'out there' then anything else I was listening to. It's a cliché to say it but it transported me elsewhere. And the vocals. Man, Bruce is obviously highly rated by anybody who knows anything about this genre of music but to me, that particular album is his best performance. On other albums he's sounded younger, he's sung higher notes on 'Number..' and 'Piece of Mind' but on 'SSOASS' he sounds like a giant. There's so much presence there. It's like he's 20ft tall, bellowing lines like 'Lucifer's my name !' and so on. To a kid like me, that was powerful stuff. Still is.

The second Maiden tape I uncovered was Piece of Mind, which sounded totally different to SSOASS but was still brilliant. The guitars are more prominent in the mix and it has Where Eagles Dare, The Trooper and To Tame a Land on it. I thank almighty Zeus I found those albums first. I was lucky. I had a good start.

The other thing I started thinking about was how our lives can be totally turned around by unforeseeable and unchangeable events. One thing we like to do is make plans, set goals and achieve them. We work towards them, not thinking that they can be rendered superfluous at any moment by some serious event. If we constantly went around thinking 'Oh, I might get ill or be in an accident' then we could easily start living day to day and not striving for anything. But when that shiz does happen it totally makes you feel as in control as a rag doll. Forget your plans, dude, you gotta deal with this. But it's not just bad or difficult things that can come into your life it can just be something that heralds change. Basically, anything unexpected or unplanned for. We like to plan.

But I read an article recently where the middle aged and above offered some wisdom for the things they'd learned about letting go and accepting that we can't know what's around the corner all the time. It is interesting and I recommend reading it:

http://markmanson.net/10-life-lessons-excel-30s#KjTqbl:uRD

This has kind of wound up heading in an 'appreciate life while it's here, you never know what's gonna happen' kind of direction. It's such a cliché but it really is true. But I would clarify it by adding that we shouldn't just appreciate and give to all and everything regardless of whether it deserves it. We should spend our energy on the good things and the good people. Be selective about what we give our most precious commodity (time) to.

Up the Irons !

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Chris S.
Feb 20 2015, 05:03 PM
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Posts: 862
Joined: 3-June 11
From: United States
Wow, I didn't even know about Bruce, I'm glad things are looking positive!

I agree, you only get one life to live - you just have to live it day by day and not waste time worrying about the future while you can be appreciating the present.

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