Don’t be trapped
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Harmonic Convergence
http://www.zenmoments.org/on-the-toss-of-a-coin/
I read Steve Jobs commencement speech to Stanford University that was delivered on June 12, 2005. Wow! If you haven’t read it, please do so. There is no bias to his words, just sincerity and emotional intelligence. Here is the link and a few of my favorite parts.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.htm
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. Death is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.
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.”
We all know this, but, do we really do this? I grew up with advice such as “stick to your own guns”, “paddle your own canoe” and “find your passion”. Those words just didn’t put a fire under me. “A job worth doing is worth doing well” and I do believe that; but, my job is not my life. My job is how I pay for my life.
I chose a noble profession, I am an RN. When my children were born I didn’t want to be a bartender anymore so I worked in a doctors office. The doctor convinced me I should be a nurse so I went to nursing school and now I work in an Intensive Care Unit. There was no destiny or passion or calling or anything like that. I was like dust rolling around and collecting into what I am now. I’m not sure any dots were connected and yet, I am surely enjoying this life.
I am very lucky and I savor the smart people I get to be around. My patients affect and inspire me. Not all, but most. I met a 747 pilot. A cruise ship captain told me he wouldn’t want to live any other life. Many doctors would rather earn their living as a tennis player or a golfer. Would that take the fun out of it? If it became your job? Retired people don’t often talk about how they made their living. They just want to live a bit longer to attend a wedding or witness the birth of a grandchild. A hospital gown has a way of making everyone equal.
Hospitals can be humbling. I lost a 34 year old patient last week to cervical cancer. No pain, no nausea, just quietly and quickly slipped away. Someone borrowed $60 from the patient so the patient’s sister could get out of jail to be with her before she died. Her sister made it. Did they choose this life? Was it a carefree life that somehow became tragic and left behind an orphan son?
Steve Jobs said, that he dropped out of school in order to take the courses that he wanted to take rather than the ones he was required to take. I felt that way while I was in nursing school learning craziness like the Pythagorean Theorem. I was studying to work in the hospital not build the damn thing. I’m not as smart as Steve Jobs. Without a degree in something I would flounder. I wasn’t able to feed my children because of anything I made in my garage. So I persevered and sat with tutors in the library and made it through.
I watched a great movie called Sherman’s Way. It seems to fit in here somehow. I have neighbors very similar to Palmer and DJ. They live a carefree life and they share their fish with us sometimes. Living a carefree life can be great as long as it isn’t irresponsible. Then again living a structured life can be great too as long as there is gentleness and spontaneity thrown in. Kathy, whom I referred to in What is inside, is like Sherman with her notes and her organized self. I enjoyed finding what was inside.
I guess it is just about living a life you enjoy and surrounding yourself with people you love. If you’re anything like me and there are no dots to connect and no passions to persue than just live a life worth living and don’t cheat, don’t lie, don’t steal and don’t hurt anyone.
