HOW HE LOST IT ALL

I have always believed a goal is something you can achieve by getting the support from your loved ones and also paying attention to the advise given by them. We all want to achieve a particular goal in life but to what extent can we go for that.

Everyone goes the extra mile in order to achieve something, the same applied for James Martin a young boy from a poor family. James was a very intelligent science student. His sole aim in life was to become a successful surgeon, be wealthy and make his parents proud. He studied day and night and doesn't hang around with friends. He only participated in activities concerning science such as science quiz, science debates etc. The least time he got, he studied. It was hard to find James in family get togethers , picnics, with friends etc.

He was the most outstanding student in his class and the teachers loved him the most. His parents adviced him to take a break and play like a normal kid but he still did not pay attention to them. He completed high school with the best grades and so got a scholarship to study in a renowned medical school. He continued to study hard in medical school and after two months he was already known as the best student in his class.

One Monday, a new student joined their class and her name was Evangeline Everton. She was asked to sit beside James since he was the most intelligent. James helped Evangeline to catch up with the class since she was far behind. Some weeks after studying together they became friends and usually walked home together.

After four to seven years in medical school, they both graduated with Bachelor in sugery certificate. Soon after graduating, James and Evangeline started dating.

James became a surgical resident in Duke University Hospital and Evangeline also became a surgical resident in Mount Sinai Hospital.

They got engaged after three months of dating and got married two weeks later. During their residency, Evangeline noticed James' bad habit of being a workerholic. Any time he talks about that, it ends in an argument because James thought what he was doing the right thing. They completed their four years of residency with James still being a workerholic and hardly finds time to be with his wife. He barely had any intimate relationship with his wife.

His wife decided to divorce him but he promised to change because he was now a surgeon and may have less work as compared to being a resident. Evangeline became a pediatric surgeon. During their fifth year of marriage, Evangeline said she wanted a child, even though James said it was too early for a child he ended up agreeing to her decision because Evangeline complained of being alone always. They made love that night and after weeks of trying it over and over again, Evangeline became pregnant.

James forced her to stay home and take care of herself whiles he works hard to provide for their needs. Evangeline gave birth after a nine months and it was a baby boy. After welcoming their first son, James became pressured to earn more. Evangeline told him he doesn't have to feel pressured since they still have more money. He still kept working day and night despite Evangeline's advise. The hospital recognised James for his hard work and successful surgeries, and was promoted to be the Head of Surgical Department. He earned more money because of his new position in the hospital but he still wanted to make more.

Evangeline complained about his behaviour to his parents. When his parents called him on the phone, he won't answer because he thought his parents were a distraction to his work. He made up his mind not to answer his parent's call at all and sends them money every month. For James not working hard means failure and it leads to poverty. James wasn't around when his son uttered his first words neither was he when his son began to walk.

After eight years of James continuing to be a workerholic and ignoring his parents, his son grew up to be a boy closely attached to his mom only. His son on most occasions when asked about his father, said he has no father because he barely knows his dad.

James because of his successful surgeries was listed among the top twenty surgeons in the world. He still thought it wasn't enough but he needed to be the richest and best surgeon in the world. He was loved by his co workers because he was dedicated to his work.

After a year he was again listed among the top five richest and best surgeons in the world. He still wanted to be the best among the best so he continued to work hard and be the best. He only slept for three or two hours and didn't even eat properly. Evangeline eventually gave up in advising him.

One Monday, it was announced in the hospital that there would be a debate among the five best surgeons in the world (which included James), to find out who is the best among the best. The winner would also get a very huge sum of money and also be honoured as the best of all surgeons. Upon hearing this, Jaden made up his mind to study really hard to emerge victorious. He learnt very thoroughly during the remaining week.

On the day of the debate which was on monday, he felt kind of nervous but he later calmed down. The event began when all the contestants were in. His wife and son decided to go and support him but unfortunately they had an accident. Evangeline was not severely injured as their son.

During the debate, James won the first, second and third round. The judges were even astonished to his level of intelligence. He was then honoured as the best of all surgeons and received a huge some of money. He became very happy and decided to go home to share the good news with his family. On his way home, he noticed that he had several missed calls from Evangeline, this made him worry. When he arrived home, he saw no one there so he asked his neighbour whether he knows were they are. His neighbour said they had went to his event to support him. This made James more worried because he didn't see his family at the event. He decided to go look for them.

On this way he saw one of his cars involved in an accident. An eye witness of the accident described the people who were involved. He quickly rushed to the hospital where they were admitted. Upon his arrival, he went to the room Evangeline was in. He only saw a note which read ;

" James, we were involved in an accident on our way to your event. Our son lost alot of blood so he needed a blood transfusion. You have the same blood group with our son 0 negative. I called you several times so you could come and donate blood to our son but you never answered. Our son died because of you and I'll forever hate you for that. I hope to never see you again in my life.

Now that you have all the money and fame I hope you are now comfortable.

Evangeline".

After reading the note, James cried like a baby. He went to the receptionist to see whether he could get information about his son. He was told his son died two hours ago and was cremated. He cried more because he couldn't even say good bye to his son.

After a week of mourning, he decided to go visit the last people on earth who would accept him, his parents. He therefore resigned from his position as the head of surgical department.

He arrived at his parents house and was marvelled that no one was there. His parent's neighbour told him that his parents had died a year ago from cancer. The man also showed James where they were buried. When James got to his parent's grave, he cried more than ever and was yelling "I'm now all alone, you warned me".

After two weeks of his visit to his parent's grave, he wrote a book titled "HOW I LOST IT ALL BECAUSE OF MY OBSESSION WITH BEING SUCCESSFUL". After the book was published, he gave all his money to charity and took his own life.

His story after weeks became an inspiration to all, but no one heard of Evangeline again.