Thursday, December 6, 2012

Clarity


It's time for clarity.

REAL clarity.

As we wrap 2012,  I think it's time to honestly assess what we are striving for and why.

At work.

On the track.

And at home.

What are the things we are working so hard for?

And perhaps more important....

What are the things we are NOT working for?

These are questions that demand tough choices.

Choices like, what is the work we should focus on that is really going to stand the test of time and actually be worth something after we're gone?

Choices like, do I give up Summers with my kids for that high-paying administrator job?

Choices like, do I train for that marathon to benefit my HEALTH, or take that night class to benefit my JOB?

What is the sorting mechanism to really, and I mean REALLY choose what is important?

And please, no cosmic, esoteric, hippy-trippy cliches from an Oprah book.

Only concrete solutions thank you very much.

I think the late Steve Jobs may have nailed it when he gave the 2005 Stanford graduates the following advice:

“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.

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.


That's clarity.

If Mr. Jobs were alive, I think he'd caution us that when we reach the finish line of life we will find two lists:  1) a list of the things we DID DO that we should not have and 2)  a list for the things we DID NOT DO and wish we had

I suspect the second list will be longer.

Much longer.

I think we will regret the time we did NOT spend with our kids because we had to work weekends.

I think we will regret the business we did NOT start because settling for the corporate job for 20 years SEEMED the safer bet.  But wasn't.

I think we will regret the piano lessons, watercolor lessons or acting lessons we did NOT take because we feared we had no talent.

I think we will regret the marathon we did NOT train for because we deemed ourselves too young, too old, or too busy with schoolwork or yardwork.

My 2000 Ford Windstar's odometer just hit 161,000 miles.

One of the electric doors doors is broken and I'm finding oil spots in the driveway.

I love teaching more than any corporate job I ever had. Indeed, the work is meaningful and has a lasting impact that most corporate gigs lack.

But I admit, I sometimes contemplate trading in my teaching spurs for the soul-killing corporate gig that comes with a fat bonus.

Because trading in the oil-leaking Windstar for that new, pearly-white Suburban with the XM satellite radio sounds really good.

But trading the Summers with the kids for more money--albeit much needed money--doesn't feel quite right.

I guess the choices are money OR time.

Not "all of the above."

I can always make more money--but I CAN'T buy back the TIME.
   
Tough decision.

A decision requiring CLARITY.

I think death is the ultimate clarifier to life's difficult decisions.

It clarifies the LONG VIEW over the SHORT VIEW.

It clarifes WHO is important over WHAT is important.

It clarifies the value of TIME over the value of MONEY.

Clarity.

This Summer, we are planning a road trip to South Dakota for my wife's family reunion.

The Windstar will never make it.

But that's okay.

There's a Hertz rental car nearby...

And I hear they rent white suburbans.

AMJ






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