☕ saturday mornings - September 24, 2022
facing trials, the shape of process & defining your legacy
Happy Saturday all!
I hope you’re having a great start to your weekend.
What I’ve been up to:
After another week of class, I took a bus to Madrid, the capital of Spain, for the weekend. Madrid is a city of elegant boulevards, expansive parks, and rich repositories of European art. It has the most visually stunning palaces I've seen and one of the best local markets. Madrid has retained its rich history, despite being commercialized and "Westernized" in parts. (I also stumbled upon two Tim Hortons!)
Here's a recap of the coolest things I've explored this week.
✍️ Quote I’m pondering:
Seneca, an ancient Stoic philosopher, on the value of adversity:
“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.”
📚 Book passage I loved:
There are a determined few who never lose sight of aspiring to do something that’s truly meaningful to them. But for many of us, as the years go by, we allow our dreams to be peeled away. We pick our jobs for the wrong reasons and then we settle for them.
We begin to accept that it’s not realistic to do something we truly love for a living. Too many of us who start down the path of compromise will never make it back...
I want you to be able to experience that feeling—to wake up every morning thinking how lucky you are to be doing what you’re doing.
― How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen
💡 Idea from me: The Shape of Progress
I used to think progress was a straight line.
If you worked hard enough and remained focused, you would continually improve. Day by day.
Now, I'm not so sure.
I think progress looks more like a gradually ascending curve.
Despite our effort, motivation and determination, we will face setbacks and misfortune, fall off, forget ourselves, or lose our way. Life is hard.
Marcus Aurelius has been remembered as one of the greatest men to have lived. He wrote journal entries about his life and thoughts, now titled 'Meditations'.
When reading it, you notice the same 3-4 ideas appearing again and again.
Marcus wasn't crazy. He was reminding himself. He wanted to be kind, peaceful, and fair - but preaching and practicing are different things. He was a human, and imperfect.
Many things we read about "living better" are ideals to strive towards, not destinations we can reach. I'm sure James Clear has bad habits as Tim Ferriss has unproductive days.
Over the past few months, I've fallen away from many of the virtues I read and write about. I've been wrapped up in desires, compared myself to others, forgotten about patience and consistency, and failed to nurture relationships.
But, I'm trying to remind myself to come back. Reset and begin again.
I will struggle with the same fundamental challenges throughout my life. For example, being ‘kind’ or ‘peaceful’ can never be mastered.
We must keep reminding ourselves of the people we want to be.
Progress isn't a straight line. It's bouncing back that matters.
❓ Question for You:
What do you want your impact on the world to be?
I've started to think more about the impact I want to have on the world, after reading about Yvon Chouinard relinquishing ownership of the company he founded, Patagonia, to ensure 100% of profits are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.
📸 Photo of the week:
Some of the best pics from Madrid!
If you have any feedback or just want to be friends, feel free to reach out.
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Have a fantastic weekend.
Much love to you and yours,
Tommy