When my mother heard that Pádraig was going to go to college she was all excited. Then she asked him what he was going to study.

“Irish and History”, he replied. My mother’s excitement went down a notch.

“What are you going to be when you finish?”, she asked.

“Don’t know”, Pádraig shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.”

My mother wanted her only grandson to become something. To study for a profession.  She didn’t quite understand what college and his studies meant to him. Why he was spending all this time on something that would not make him someone: a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, an architect, something. What was he going to do with his knowledge of the Irish language, literature, and culture? Or, probably worse: his knowledge of history?

I always thought that college should be the best years of your life. When and where else would you have the luxury of learning about stuff you always wanted to find out more about, without much worry about responsibilities or too many commitments? Throw in a few trips, new friends, festivals, and loads of previously unheard of opportunities – life doesn’t get much more exciting than this. (Even though, I know, sometimes it just feels miserable.)

From what I saw, Pádraig had the best years of his life in college. And there was more to come… The challenge he is facing now is bigger what even him could ever have imagined. (He wasn’t a man going for the small stuff. He was always thinking big.) The amazing thing is that when many doctors wouldn’t agree, he went for life. And, with his friends, that’s what he is re-discovering. Life. An amazing life full of opportunities.

His arm is still black and yellow, and we did not take him out of bed today; he didn’t eat much either. But his heartbeat came down quite a bit, closer to normal – the hurt seems to go away, slowly. No doubt, in another few days, his injury will have disappeared and turned into a long distant memory.

Please keep voting for Hospi-tales on http://www.blogawardsireland.com/best-blog-post-2014/ – the blog post is still at an incredible, magic #3!

Donal Earls is going to run not just the Dublin Half Marathon next weekend, he is also going to run 42.194988km on the October Bank Holiday weekend: his first ever marathon. Please support his fundraising effort on iDonate.

Today’s German Music Tip
Konny, Karrieresong. A ‘makes-you-think’ song (click here for the lyrics) about people spending loads of time on their career but not on life. At the end, they find themselves in a nursing home realising how quickly life passed by:
Das Leben geht so schnell dahin, deine Warnungen verhalln’ im Wind
hört keiner zu ..und vorbei, die Jugend hat ja keine…Zeit
What’s hot
Life
What’s cold
Career for career’s sake
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Na, hast Du ‘n Vogel? (hey, are you mad?)