Repair: Life, (Near) Death, and Tools for the Long Road

TV favourite, Richard Hammond, has hit a crossroad in his life. Nearly twenty years after his famous high-speed car crash, he opens up about life after near death and the psychological challenges of the modern world.

In the nearly two decades since my death-defying car crash, people remain fascinated by the aftermath of such a life-changing event. The truth is, I'm still contemplating the effects myself.

That's where you find me now, at a crossroads. A moment of reflection and pause. A chance to look back over my life since and forward to the (I hope) long road ahead. Searching for answers and performing what I would call a 'midlife MOT' - checking in to see what's going on and fine-tuning the parts that are a bit stuck.

They say we're in crisis, men, so I want to get under the bonnet and have a look around - see if anything I've experienced or learned over the years might help or illuminate. Tread carefully into topics us blokes (in fact all of us, really) find hard to talk about, but absolutely must if we're to turn a corner.

I would argue that all life is a series of rupture and repair, breaking and fixing, high points and low points. A constant reaching of crossroads and hoping you've picked the right route. So I hope what I've got to say is sensible, and funny - at least for the short one off of the nation's favourite car show... - but mostly I hope it inspires a bit of self maintenance in you too.

The saying goes, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but I'd argue we could at least change the oil every now, and keep ourselves in better repair.