Today is my 50th birthday and I find myself grateful to have made it 5 decades, and reflective on how we chose to spend our time on earth. Perhaps we are wise to live with one eye on the present moment and one eye on what others will be able to honestly say about our value after we are gone. I am inspired by this insight from Albert Schweitzer, who died in the year I was born: “Example is not the main thing influencing others. It is the only thing.”
This Tedtalk is on point. Here is a direct video link.
Within each of us are two selves, suggests David Brooks in this meditative short talk: the self who craves success, who builds a résumé, and the self who seeks connection, community, love — the values that make for a great eulogy. (Joseph Soloveitchik has called these selves “Adam I” and “Adam II.”) Brooks asks: Can we balance these two selves?
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