I'll be raising a glass to Steve Jobs tonight when sitting by my Woodburner

Steve Jobs was iconic, and the world is a lesser place now that he is no longer with us. I will be opening my finest malt tonight in front of my woodburner and raising a glass to him.

It's funny how Apple products have crept into our lives and become the norm. I don't know about you, but I take my iPod for granted and my iPhone is like a friend to me! And so I am quite glad that the weather has turned because there is something incredibly comforting about sitting by a wood stove and watching the flames make patterns behind the glass. A woodburner enables one to sit and think, to contemplate the preciousness of life and to step out of the pressures placed upon us and to consider where our priorities lie.

I am a realist, and know that in a few weeks time Steve Jobs' tragic death will no longer be uppermost in my thoughts. However, I am hoping that I will not lose sight of the need to value my relationships. I am going to pencil in more time for evenings with friends and family, drinking in the ambience of the woodburner and hopefully a bottle of wine! I am going to stop wasting time in front of the TV and call more people in an endeavour not to lose touch, and I am no longer going to wait until Christmas to send letters to people!

Steve Jobs made his famous Stanford speech in 2005 and I take this quote from it:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. … Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

So I would encourage you to invest in the things that count and join me tonight beside your woodburner and work through who and what's important in your life.