"I'll tell you something,
It's not hard to die when you know you have lived, and I did.
Oh, how I lived."
- Edie Britt (Desperate Housewives s05e19)
The Lessons We Must Learn
Only yesterday, I was watching season 5 of Desperate Housewives. The 100th episode (s05e13) is titled "The Best Thing That Ever Could Have Happened". Here, residents of Wysteria Lane remember how the neighborhood handyman Eli Scruggs deeply affected their lives.
Later on in episode 19, the housewives took time to remember Edie Britts, who really lived her life - a life that was one of a kind.
Steve Jobs on How to Live Before You Die
In 2005, Steve Jobs, the legendary Apple Inc. CEO gave a commencement address at Stanford University.
Following is his address:
In his talk, Steve Jobs outlined three life stories that in his opinion, characterize a life well lived:
- Connecting the DotsYou can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards.So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
You have to trust in something... because believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference. - Love and LossSometimes life's gonna hit you on the head with a brick. Dont lose faith.You've got to find what you love, and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers.
Your work is gonna fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you you find it. And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking, don't settle. - Death"If you live each day as if it's your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."Remembering that you are going to die, is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart.
Death is the destination we all share. It's 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'll gradually become the old, and be cleared away.
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.
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.
In Other News...
Today is the first day of the year 2010. Amid all the fanfare and gratitude of making it through 2009 to see yet another year, do we have it within ourselves to let 2009 be the end of something, and 2010 the beginning of everything?
Like Abba said in their 1980 hit song Happy New Year (from the album Super Trouper):
Happy New Year... May we all have a vision now and then,
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend,
May we all have our hopes, our will to try,
If we don't we might as well lay down and die... You and I.
Following is the video to this song:
We at The Walkabout and the greater Complit Communications family do wish you all the best in your life, your work, your studies and your dreams.
Cheers, and Say Hello to 2010! Read more about: 2010, Abba, choice, Connect the Dots, Death, Insight, Inspiration, Learning, life, Love and Loss, New Year, Stanford University, Steve Jobs, TED Talks
