Remembering Me

I attended a memorial service this afternoon for the father of a coworker. He was an incredible man, and I learned where my coworker received many of the attributes that cause me to have a great deal of respect for her. It's not every day you hear about someone who graduated at the top of the class at Stanford and Georgetown and was Dean & Professor at a number of Law Schools. Oh, and 20 years as a Marine pilot earning Ace status. Oh, and a great family man too. The complete package. It gives one, at least me, opportunity to reflect.

I'm not that naturally talented. That's not putting myself down. I'm not; I'm not even in that league. Most of us aren't. But the "widely respected by friends, coworkers, and family," especially the latter - that is within my (and your) grasp.

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Taking this post back up a week later, I remember one key description of this man. Everything was an adventure. Everything (challenge, obstacle, opportunity, change) was seized upon and thoroughly lived. Carpe Diem.

This is an attribute that fosters life in one's self and in the lives of those around them. It's not a life of drama, and it's not chaos. Rather, it seems to be excelling in the moment while eagerly anticipating the next. I suspect most of us are good at one of those and weaker on the other, but seldom good at both at the same time. That is, I can excel in short spurts though when I am succeeding in an area I do not look forward to change. I'm comfortable with success. When success is not immediately present, I tend to forego seeking it in favor of fixating on change. Thus, I do not Seize the Day very well.

I have a great deal of respect for those that do; they can tire me out just being around them for too long, but it's the kind of tired one gets after a good workout. Maybe some more frequent workouts are in order. When we workout (I'm speaking abstractly here since I have no current personal experience in this domain), we force ourselves into motion and discipline our bodies into form. It's not fun for those of us who aren't clinically insane, but, I'm told, it yields great results.

Also, it eventually builds its own momentum. It fosters life in one's self. From that perspective, if I (and you) wish to be remembered as people who lived life on a grand scale, perhaps I don't need to leave my imprint tomorrow. Maybe I start by looking for ways to workout - to embrace change when I'm comfortable, to follow through and finish the job when it's tedious or too hard, to immerse my life with people who are doing these things. Maybe it is in the little things that we are made or broken. To better convey this thought, Aristotle said:

"We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act,
but a habit."

I doubt this man set off with the goal to be remembered in this way, but he is and will be. I suspect if I adopt and live out the same principles I won't care much how I'm remembered after I've moved on, but other lives will have been enriched. Maybe then another life will pause, consider, and shift course.

...Apparently, not much.

Huh. I thought I'd move ideas and thoughts just pouring out when it came to this blog. Shows what I know. Right now my mind seems filled with wonderfully profound things like the specialty license plate for our new car (sorry, Angela, - SUV). To make matters worse, I'm not even having any good ideas about that. We'll probably go with Angela's idea, "UW!SH" (it was to start with a "U" since it's a UNC specialty plate).

Pretty profound right. Oh well. Hopefully, there'll be a smattering of philosophy, theology, personal opinions, uninformed politics, etc in this blog. Hopefully.