Autobiography

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
C27. DO YOU HAVE THE COURAGE?
I was asked by Sir Alan Sugar “what’s the
inscription on your badge?” he was referring to
the badge on my blazer. “Determination,
perseverance and courage” I replied. What
does it represent, he asked. It’s the Gold’s
motto and it’s been in the family for over two
months I replied with a smile!!! I’m not sure he
got it.
Those years from fourteen to twenty,
when every day was a battle, seemed to take
an eternity. The year from twelve to thirteen,
when I desperately wanted to be a teenager,
took forever. Yet the months between 49 and
50, when I needed every second because there
was so much I wanted to achieve, felt like they
were over in the blink of an eye.
It would seem the one thing that makes time
go quickly is happiness. If life is going well
time flies by but if you are unhappy or ill,
every day seems like it will never end. It is
quite remarkable that when you are a teenager
you dread becoming 21 because you feel the
excitement of being a teenager is going to
come to end. All the time I was in my twenties
I worried that I wouldn’t be a success by the
time I was 30, as you become convinced that
by the time you are 40 life will be over as you
know it, and you’ll be middle-aged.
Of course, all those feelings are entirely wrong,
but when you talk to young people they cannot
believe life can become even more exciting;
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