Stratadon
Well-Known Member
The events that I experienced earlier today have had a profound impact on me. I have spent the majority of the day doing some serious soul searching as I try to find meaning in the muddled mess of experiences, better or for worse, that constitute life.
As I thought about life and death and the meaning of it all, I found myself reading the speech that Steve Jobs gave at a Stanford commencement ceremony.
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart...
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
I came to the realization that if I had died today, I would not have been satisfied by what I had accomplished in life. I would not have lived my last day as if it were in fact my last. Through the commotion of growing up and focusing on an education, I have not spent nearly enough time doing the things I really care for and enjoy in life. Because of my shyness and fear of embarrassment I have missed out on developing relationships with people I like and people I love. Knowing that life could end as abruptly as it began, I am beginning to see that there is no reason to fear embarrassment. There is only the joy of knowing that you are doing the things you love most with the people you love most for as long as the world allows.
I will always remember that death is life’s crowning creation. Knowing that tomorrow I may not wake up again is a call to arms today. Today is the day to help someone, to thank someone, to love someone. Today is the day to smile. I think that this is the way that we, as a nation and as a species, can overcome the seemingly endless onslaught of violence and cruelty that have become all too familiar in this day and age.
TL;DR Don't worry. Be happy.
As I thought about life and death and the meaning of it all, I found myself reading the speech that Steve Jobs gave at a Stanford commencement ceremony.
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart...
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
I came to the realization that if I had died today, I would not have been satisfied by what I had accomplished in life. I would not have lived my last day as if it were in fact my last. Through the commotion of growing up and focusing on an education, I have not spent nearly enough time doing the things I really care for and enjoy in life. Because of my shyness and fear of embarrassment I have missed out on developing relationships with people I like and people I love. Knowing that life could end as abruptly as it began, I am beginning to see that there is no reason to fear embarrassment. There is only the joy of knowing that you are doing the things you love most with the people you love most for as long as the world allows.
I will always remember that death is life’s crowning creation. Knowing that tomorrow I may not wake up again is a call to arms today. Today is the day to help someone, to thank someone, to love someone. Today is the day to smile. I think that this is the way that we, as a nation and as a species, can overcome the seemingly endless onslaught of violence and cruelty that have become all too familiar in this day and age.
TL;DR Don't worry. Be happy.
