A while back I was watching an interview with Jerry Seinfeld. People tend to love him or hate him. Personally I’ve thought he was very funny ever since I first saw him in the early 80s. But my point isn’t really that Seinfeld’s funny, but that he had some interesting things to say in this interview. People who think about things for a living, writer’s and comedians in particular, generally have interesting things to say if you can get them to stop “performing” even a little. Robin Williams interviews are, predictably, a waste of time.
Anyway, Seinfeld was asked about a graduation speech he’d given, and he said he’d tried to come up with three life rules. (Enough Rope with Andrew Denton part 3 – for those of you who are not Seinfeld fans it’s bout 7 minutes in.) His were: (1) bust your ass, (2) pay attention, (3) fall in love.
By “bust your ass” he said he really just meant, whatever you do, do it as hard as you can. In his opinion nothing bad can come of hard work. Sounds good to me but what would I know?
By “pay attention” he meant, just make it a practice to notice what’s going on around you. Similar, I suppose, to what Satchel Paige meant when he said, “It’s amazing what you can see by just looking.”
And by “fall in love” he didn’t particularly mean romantic love, but that capacity to give yourself to a moment; a really fantastic cup of coffee for example. To not be afraid to really love the beautiful things of life, no matter how small they may seem.
I think these are interesting suggestions, but I wonder what your rules might be. Please click on comment and share your three rules of life. Of course, you probably don't have three right now, so just make them up. It's what I'm going to do, but not till a few others have had a chance.
5 comments:
A while ago I decided that what I needed was a mission statement. This is a work in progress, but here's where we are so far. I don't think I can get it down to three, but maybe I can get it down to one. Have a mission statement.
I will laugh easily, love freely, and speak truly. I will do what is put in my path. I will not give my word lightly or without thought, and where I do I will not be foresworn. I will stand up for myself and, when there’s need, for you. I will be generous with what I have been given and accept the gifts of others with grace. I will make eye contact. Where I admire I will do so openly. Where I am wrong I will admit and apologize openly.
I did not mean to end this so abruptly, but when I pushed enter to put in my name, it submitted it. I was just going to look at it and see if I liked it.
So just to add. Mission statements are great. They make you think about what's important to you, and about who you want to be. I'm not sure this will ever be finished; I suspect I will be forever finding things that I think should be in my mission statement. Nor do I mean to imply that I consistently pull this off. I too am a work in progress. But it keeps me focused.
Glad you're back. I've missed you.
The three P's is what I just realized I (personally) need to remember....Don't be a prick but keep the passion (these two can effect one another) and pray ceaselessly; regardless of how much or little you think you understand how it works.
Yah Blake. I like that.
Give more of yourself than you take from others.
Be still for at least five minutes a day and you may hear or notice something important.
Don't be afraid to fail and when you do try again a different way.
Sue
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