Impact not Duration

So many of us want to live as long as possible because we can’t deal with the alternative. It’s a natural human instinct. However, there is little point in a long life if you do nothing with it. The most impactful life can be a short one. Let me tell you about my best friend whose short life had an impact that lasts to this day.

Gavin Jupp was a force of nature who lived on the principle of doing whatever he felt like whenever he felt like. He was outrageous in his behaviour on many occasions but he was never deliberately unpleasant. If his behaviour negatively affected someone he would shrug his shoulders on the outside but he would reflect on it on the inside. It was never deliberate and it was never something he took lightly, however much it may have seemed. He was a Scout Leader, a leading light in ASCAF the amateur dramatic society he encouraged me to join and he was the absolute centre of our group of friends. His charisma was off the scale and he used that charisma to entertain, encourage and perform. Some of the statements he made and some of the ways he behaved were jaw dropping but the twinkle in his eye when he did those things always made him practically immune from criticism and consequences. I remember when he and two of my other friends visited me at Staffordshire Polytechnic. We had a good night at the Place, the nightclub in Stoke on Trent. We were walking past a car sales business and one of my friends mentioned that the hub caps on one of the cars would look brilliant on his car which was the same make. Before we knew it, we were following Gavin and watching as he started to lever off the hub caps! I stood back as I tended to whenever something happened that I was concerned would be a problem for me! That said, when the hub caps were removed I was happy to carry one back to my room!

However, when you were in trouble he was in your corner more effectively than anyone else and he had an awful lot of insight into the way that people’s minds worked. He had a huge heart and huge reserves of compassion and where he led so many others followed without question.

Gavin Jupp was killed in a car crash 30 years ago this month at the age of 29. The bare facts of his lifespan were 14 December 1966 to 29 January 1996, but in between the two dates he was more adored and more influential than people who lived three times as long. That is what we should all try to emulate, however long we are given.