The One Life Show

Episode Summary: A rarely-told, difficult personal story — finding a dead body while working a lawn-care job in New Hampshire, and the encounter with a grieving father that changed how Mike sees everything since. The message: you only have one life, and there’s no better time than now to create the one you want.

What You’ll Learn

• A true, difficult story from Mike’s lawn-care job days, and the encounter that changed him
• Why the way one grieving father responded left a lasting impression on how to treat people
• A challenge to do an honest self-audit: are you living your own life, or someone else’s version of it
• Why kindness and consideration matter just as much online as in person

The Story

About 20 years ago, Mike and his dog drove a 1972 VW van from Missoula, Montana to Canterbury, New Hampshire, to live with a college roommate and his wife in a farmhouse in the woods. Right after college, Mike had traded a cum laude English degree for a busboy job and various other work out West — making good money, genuinely happy, but with a constant internal voice pushing for more, never fully satisfied.

Out West. After college, a few good years out West having fun, still wanting to put that degree to use somehow. Feeling a bit lost, a college friend with a “real job” suggested New Hampshire — maybe a university job, maybe Boston. So Mike and the dog headed east.

The Job. A corporate lawn care company turned out to be the only “real” job Mike could find that didn’t require dressing up — salary, benefits, but casual, with gas covered and plenty of field time. His first real car (one where the AC and speedometer both worked) came with it. The job wasn’t bad — Mike saw every corner of southern New Hampshire and only had to be in the office a couple hours a day. It confirmed something he already suspected: he’s a one-man band, and the traditional career-to-retirement path was never going to have his name on it. He works for experience and knowledge.

The Day I Will Never Forget

One fall morning, Mike headed to a small coastal town on the New Hampshire/Massachusetts border for his first job of the day. Working in the backyard, he spotted what looked like a lawn chair with a scarecrow or a dozing older man in it. Moving closer to avoid startling anyone, he realized there was a shotgun propped between the figure’s legs — and then saw the rest.

It was real. A 23-year-old military veteran had taken his own life in the backyard of his father’s house. Mike walked, numb, to a machine shop across the street and calmly told the workers there what he’d found. They confirmed it.

The Father

Mike leaned against the work truck, blank, waiting for police. Then the father arrived — sprinting from his car, through the front door, yelling “No.” Moments later, he walked back out, composed himself, and approached Mike directly. He asked Mike’s name. He asked if Mike was okay. He said nobody should have to witness something like that, thanked him for getting help, gave him a handshake-hug, and apologized before going back inside.

Days later, that same father called Mike at work — just to check that he was okay. A man who had just lost his son, making sure a stranger who found him was doing alright. That moment has stayed with Mike ever since, a check against being quick to judge or unkind, a reminder that even in the worst moment of someone’s life, they can still choose grace.

Life Lessons

Mike drove back to headquarters, called it a day, and privately knew he wouldn’t be doing that job much longer. Not traumatized exactly — he’s fairly strong-headed — but genuinely affected, enough to still tell the story vividly 20-plus years later. The father’s reaction was a lesson in appreciating everything, since none of it lasts, and in how much being a good person — even in the worst moment imaginable — matters and ripples outward. Little things mean a lot.

Be Nice to People

As more of life and work moves online, the same rules of kindness and respect still apply. Say thank you when someone takes the time to help. Don’t send scathing emails over a minor product issue. There’s a real human on the other end of every interaction, with feelings just like yours. Be nice.

Are You Happy?

The real question underneath all of it: are you happy? Are you actually building the life you want, on your own terms?

Do Your Thing

Mike is cautious about blanket advice like “quit your job and go do your thing” — everyone’s wired differently, and he’s not romantic about entrepreneurship for its own sake. What matters is doing things that are meaningful and satisfying. He moved to Florida for a job he held for 8-plus years, loved it, and never once wished he’d gone off on his own instead — a reminder not to feel pressured into a particular path just because it’s framed as the “freedom” choice. Freedom is doing what’s genuinely right for you and owning that decision, whatever it looks like. The goal is figuring out what you really want and moving toward it, however small or unglamorous that looks — errands and busywork, in Mike’s case, which is more or less what Murphy Concierge is, just tech-focused.

Why This Story

The point of sharing this story is a gut check: make sure you’re not living someone else’s version of your life. Self-doubt often masquerades as the “safe” or “practical” choice — not wanting to worry friends and family, wanting to look like you have it together. But if something else is genuinely calling to you, even if others don’t understand it or tell you it won’t work, find a way to start on it, even in small pockets of time. Your happiness makes everyone around you better off, and if you’re not actively pursuing it, now is the time to start.

Now Is the Time

The sense at the time was of a rare, wide-open moment before massive disruption reshapes the landscape — a free-for-all that won’t stay a level playing field forever. Nobody knows exactly what’s coming, but there’s real excitement in positioning yourself to win regardless. It’s an open canvas right now, and the only requirement is being honest about what you actually want to paint — even if that’s a steady 9-to-5. Creating the life you want is difficult, slow, scary, and never fully certain. But you only have one life, and it can end in an instant. Are you living the one you want? If yes, congratulations. If not, start creating it.

Learn. Create. Move Forward.