Feel-Good Friday
Because who doesn't want to end the (traditional) work week on a high note? (Thanks, subscribers!)
[BUT FIRST, A SLIGHT—POTENTIALLY LIFE-SAVING—DETOUR:
When you turn your clocks back this weekend please make sure to check on your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms—change the batteries…and if they are more than 10 years old, it’s time to replace them. Elderly parents or neighbors? Mask up and check on/change theirs too.]
And now on to business…
My favorite weekly newsletter comes from James Clear (author of a book in my “to read” pile, Atomic Habits) and I encourage you all to subscribe, by clicking this link. It’s called 3-2-1 Thursday and it regularly provides some of the most thought-provoking things I read in a week. It’s straightforward: three fresh ideas from him, two quotes from others, and one question to ponder. No commentary—just pure brain ignition.
I tell you this for two reasons: 1) because the newsletter is fantastic and I can’t recommend it enough and 2) one of the two quotes from yesterday is going to be a featured part of this week’s Feel-Good Friday.
The plan here is if I write something on Fridays it will start with me sharing/talking about a story or a quote or some other such thing with one goal in mind—giving you something to feel good about.
So yesterday, James Clear shared this as the second of the two quotes in his newsletter:
II.
Writer George Bernard Shaw on living a life that burns bright:
"This is the true joy in life:
being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one;
being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.
I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
Source: Epistle Dedicatory from Man and Superman
I love (!!!) this quote, and think it is especially perfect for these, er, interesting times. I know it’s kind of long and deep, but sometimes you have to dig deep to feel good.
Let’s face it, now is an easy time to be selfish and whiny and more attuned to the shadows of the day than the bright spots. But did you also know that in dark spaces it’s easier to see light spots?
Prior to reading this quote, I hadn’t thought of my life in exactly that way, as belonging to the whole community, at least not consciously. I’ve long understood that I am part of something bigger, in a large part thanks to my college days where commitment to the common good was the strongest thread woven through the tapestry of our small but mighty community. In watching Hamilton the musical over and over and listening to the soundtrack over and over exponentially (it often accompanies the thinking walks that I try to take several times a week), I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on 1) my “legacy” and 2) answering “what I would do if I had more time?” I’m not sure I know any of the answers to any of life’s weighty questions—but I am sure that if I’m using a candle or a torch as a metaphor for life, I want to live in such a way that the flame is as bright and as strong as I can make it, so that when I do hand it off to the next generation it serves some purpose—be it heating a room, lighting the way, or warming a soul. How tragic if I choose a life of darkness, sucking oxygen out of spaces with complaints and negativity, thinking only of myself and not what I can do for others?
These restrained and constrained pandemic conditions give us a lot of space to think…what do we want to think, who do we want to be and why, and how do we want our lives to be better on the other side of this, and on the other side of life?
The big takeaway for me: rejoice in life for it’s own sake. And I’ll end with this very short story. I went to my mom’s for dinner once and she had a really nice bottle of wine chilled…she proudly announced the reason: “Special occasion: life.”
She’s right. Life is a special occasion. Rejoice in it. The rest is all bullshit anyway. ;-)
(And another thing to feel good about, in case you missed it, is this story out of Tampa Bay, where a baby rhino was named after Gronk.)
Happy Friday—hope you have something fun planned for the weekend, besides checking those smoke/carbon monoxide alarm batteries.
Note/Favor: This is the end of the “style showcase” experiment. Maiku Monday. Transformation Tuesday. “What I’m ______________” Wednesday. Thursday Thoughts. Feel-Good Friday. I’m thinking about rotating the day each week. So week one I’ll do Monday, then the next week Tuesday, etc. What do you think? Too much? Did one “style” work better for you than others? Any topic you want me to explore? Hit me by replying to the email or commenting below. Thanks!