Page 367 - James Caan - The Real Deal

35 · My Life as a Dragon

a quick weekend away skiing or Sunday brunch out at a café in St
John’s Wood, we spend as much time together as possible. In the
past couple of years Aisha has become just as big a fan of Chelsea
– probably bigger, in fact – than me, and now that we have season
tickets those couple of hours we spend at Stamford Bridge for
home matches have become really important to me. Watching the
team I love next to the woman I love is a great way to forget about
work for a while.
It’s been a pretty crazy time and I am so proud of the way Aisha,
Jemma and Hanah have handled it (although Hanah finds it
slightly alarming that I get suggestive fan mail from women of a
certain age). I have been blessed in business, but it’s my family that
makes me truly thankful, and in 2007 we decided that it was the
right time to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, the hajj, that Muslims
are expected to make at least once in their lifetime, so that we
could thank God for all that we have.
It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.
When you have two and half million people in one place for the
purpose of worship it is immensely moving. Jet lag meant I
miscalculated the timing for one of the prayers and I found myself
at my hotel window looking out at millions of people – there were
people as far as the eye could see – and they were all bowing in
unison. It was, in the very literal sense of the word, awesome.
I couldn’t have gone to a better place to reflect and to look back
on my life. It also helped me appreciate my success and allowed
me to thank God for all that has happened. I still have the fear
that I could lose everything I have been given and I felt it was
important to acknowledge that before God. I was reminded of the
teaching in the Koran that you are not in control of your wealth.
In the West we are led to believe that we create our own wealth,
that it is a consequence of hard work or being really smart, but the
book says this is not the case, and I know this must be true just
by looking at my family.

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