1st April 2024 - Attempt 36!

 All great stories start with a fantastic opening. This opening, perhaps, won’t be as grand as you were hoping it will be, but it will hopefully set the scene for what is to come.

You are reading the blog of me, Kris Middleton. This is attempt number 36 of starting this blog, and after 35 failed attempts I am determined to make this attempt work. And because I am determined, I am overly optimistic this will be the one!

Who am I and what do I do? That, my friend, is the first interesting question of this blog.

I am Kris. I also get called, incorrectly I must point out, Skippy; a childhood nickname that seems to have stuck. At the time of starting this blog I am thirty six years old (there’s that number again!). I work in a school as a rather handy Computer Technician, as a person who knows how to throw data at a spreadsheet and make it look incredible. I fix things, I teach people how to use software to its full potential, and I have a burning desire to help as many people as I possibly can.

In 2011 I set up a business, called The Legend of Skippy, taking my much travelled nickname and turning it into a would-be empire where I would build websites, databases, help people with their technology woes, and fix broken devices. I helped so many people on a one-to-one basis, but it was decidedly exhausting. I worked long hours, helping as many people as I could, for very little positive reward. I made the fundamental mistake of wanting to set up a business without actually having a plan or a goal to achieve. The goal of ‘helping people’ doesn’t really give you much wiggle room for gauging success.

And now, on this day, the 1st April 2024, I find myself in the home i bought with my own savings that I earned off my own work, emptying cupboards and drawers with my partner, Juli, and our 6 year old child, Fearne, as I attempt to use my 2-week break from school work to do a bit of a spring clean.

We have thrown away so much unnecessary stuff! To the point that we now have free shelves and items stored away successfully in such a manner it pleases me how tidy it looks.

The first iteration of The Legend of Skippy, the version that existed between 2011 and 2023, was successful. I was harsh earlier on when I mentioned there was very little reward. I am surrounded by my rewards; I have a woman I love, a little girl, and a place to call my own. That version of The Legend of Skippy helped me achieve all these things.

However, I am living proof that life changes and you have to adapt. And If I have to adapt then so does The Legend of Skippy.

The problem with my original business was it gave me no scope to actually be a human being and live a life. I would work 16 hours a day every day. Building websites, programming and repairing stuff, that was my life. My life now involves family responsibilities. This house needs a lot of work, I want to be a good dad to Fearne, and I want to make Juli happy by being a decent person. 16 hour working days won’t cut it anymore.

And so I have adapted, and rightly so. Work and life balance is key to a healthy life. And I can testify to that. It was a couple of years ago I had to take a month away from work due to stress and anxiety, all because of a horrible work and life balance.

Skippy had to take a back seat while I sorted myself out and became a better version of who I was. The harsh realities of a world where costs increased thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic meant I had to make sure I had a guaranteed wage each month to support my family, so when the school I work at offered me my job full-time I said yes.

It was the right decision for myself and my family. No more need to get stressed every month trying to find ways to pay bills from scratch again. Plus I am well respected at the school, something which I cannot say happened regularly during The Legend of Skippy 1.0. At times in fact I felt really underappreciated and was being taken for granted.

Which has led me to this exact moment in time. A time when I am on my holidays from work and I am tidying up the house. As fulfilling as all of this is, I cannot help wondering if my journey through life can inspire others. Surely my adventures so far, and the adventures I have yet to experience, can make others think that they can achieve things too. My entire life, body, and soul is a tapestry of good decisions and bad decisions, all of which have resulted in this exact moment in time and space.

And you know what? As much as the first iteration of The Legend of Skippy exhausted me, I still have a burning desire to help people. Not necessarily in the same 16-hour days I used to, but to use my digital skills and platforms to reach you all and try and make a positive difference in a few more people’s lives.

This blog is the start of The Legend of Skippy 2.0. The dad version! I’ve got the job, the family, the bills, and all the chaos that comes with juggling it all. Now I just need a space to explain it all, primarily to myself, but share it in such a way it may even inspire one or two other people to do something.

This blog could be that space!

You know what? Version 36 could well be the one. I’ll use it as my daily diary, and if one person, anywhere in the world, can get something out of it, then I have achieved what I set out to achieve.

So, the Kris Middleton blog, attempt number 36! I hope you like it. Keep checking back as often as you like to see how I am getting on with life. Maybe my daily ramblings can one day inspire you to do something even more interesting than this nonsense!