Last summer I died in India, figuratively if not quite literally. And I'm glad..

I won't bore you with the details. Here's the nutshell. My wife and I traveled to New Delhi for work and fun to be followed a 9 day 30th anniversary celebration in Ireland on our way home. A health crisis intervened. I nearly died twice. I spent ten days in ICU under the care of the very capable physicians and other professionals at Max Hospital in New Delhi.

I lost more than just 25 pounds and 15 more since then. The person I was died there in that hospital bed. I returned with a renewed determination to waste no more time on the irrelevant and the unnecessary. I left behind a man of too much wasted time and too many unproductive habits. I came home with a new lease on life, and I wasn't going to waste it.

First and foremost, thanks go to my dear wife without whom I certainly would have died. Secondly great thanks go to all my Indian coworkers, several of whom participated in my rescue from certain death, and the management team back home who made sure that our every need was very well met.

This photo was taken of me a few weeks after our return to Utah. It's how I dressed as a young kid growing up on a farm and ranch. It's how my dad still dresses. It's my way of reminding myself to be more like him and focus on the important things in life while eliminating things that don't matter and just waste time.

Because my health crisis was in precipitated by my poor personal health habits of the past and a nasty intestinal infection contracted in my first few days in country, I've spent a good deal of time learning how to take better care of myself with a sensible diet and exercise, making good on a commitment to create a lifelong habit and avoid repeating my nightmare in New Delhi.

I stopped watching television. I stopped paying much attention to politics and I never waste time commenting on that topic. I spend more time with my family. I rise early and retire early. I spend time in personal study and devotions every day. And I strive to treat others, especially those with whom I work, as I would wish to be treated, with kindness and patience.

It has been a transformative experience. I grew so much closer to the great people on my teams and all those who took care of my wife while I fought off death in the hospital. I know I'm not the only one to have gone through something like this. There are many who emerge from such a health crisis changed, better, more alive than ever before. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to see from this perspective, though I recommend you take my word for it. And it sure beats looking up from six feet under.

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P.S. It's been nearly a year since I posted my last blog post. You can expect to see me posts more often. Most of my posts in this blog have been about software development. I'm thinking you'll see a mix of technology and personal posts in the future. I hope you don't mind.