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Monday, January 27, 2014

I was recently reminded of this short piece that I wrote a couple of years ago.  While it is (seemingly) not directly on topic for this blog.  In my mind it is relevant - so I thought I would post it here for your consideration.  Thanks for your indulgence.  Eric


SOME THOUGHTS ON WHAT LIFE IS ABOUT
by F. Eric Saunders
January, 2012

Humans are so strange.  We want what we want.  But why do we want it?  What makes us desire such strange things?  We become obsessed over the latest craze, that passing whimsy.  We think we are going to die if we don’t get the latest gadget.  Then, most often, a few weeks later, we can hardly remember why we wanted that idiotic thing.  We throw away most of our lives in pursuit of things that matter not at all – to the absolute abandonment of those things that might really matter. 

Among the trivialities that we tend to treat as something that we can’t live without – something that is worth the effort to sacrifice for – is fame.  Myself, although I admit to having been tempted from time to time, I tend to recoil at the very idea of seeking fame.  The old TV show of that name never ceased to make my skin crawl when I heard an advert for it.  Why, I would always pause to think, would anyone seek something so empty, so meaningless, so devoid of any real accomplishment or contribution to the human condition?

Now, on the other hand, excellence IS something to prize.  To do one’s best, to make the maximum effort or, as Kipling wrote, to “fill each unforgiving minute with sixty second’s worth of distance run” – that is the real goal.  If we measure our worth by our “success” (by “success” I here mean recognition, fame, acclaim) then most of us will fail.  By definition, acclaim is for the few.  But that is bull crap.  The real success is in knowing you did what you could with what you had.  Be it raising a family, excelling in medical research, or being the best damned welder on the line, that is where true happiness lies.  Sure, if you do your best, fame might find you.  Some people are justly famous for their good works.  But most toil in obscurity, and that is simply the way of it.  On the other hand, most people who do achieve fame are vapid, insipid, stupid, shallow twits.  That is simply the way of it.  And that is why the pursuit of fame for its own sake is an empty promise.  Even if achieved, it will leave one feeling empty, and wondering why it seemed like such an important thing in the first place. 

So, my friends, I wish for you – do your best and be comforted by your own efforts.  Should fame come your way, don’t let it change you.  Should fame elude you, you are probably better off, if only you remember to remember that your worth is already in you.  All you have to do is do your best to use it.

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