You won’t meet many people who listen to Tikva and then follow it up with Aretha Franklin singing”(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”
Nor will you meet many people who can say they played T-ball with one of Aretha’s kids, but I am that guy.
Not that any of that stuff matters but I presented it to my daughter as an introduction to the importance of learning how to not care what people think.
It is not an easy lesson and it can be hard, but learning how to celebrate your own “weirdness” can go a long way to making your life a little easier and less frustrating.
I Am Not Buying It
The look on her face made it clear she was having trouble buying into what I was trying to sell and I couldn’t blame her because I don’t always believe it either.
But I didn’t hide that, I told her there are moments where I wish I was the cool guy and that whatever I said was considered funny and or profound.
It doesn’t happen often, but there are moments.
Moments where I wonder why some people can say “Bamboozle” and everyone laughs or nods their heads because it seems like fireworks went off and yet we can say/do the same thing and not get that response.
You can’t explain cool or charisma in a way that allows anyone and everyone to automatically imitate it.
Life doesn’t work like that.
Sooner or later you discover a form of magic called chemistry and learn that you can have some pretty amazing times and experiences with those people.
That has fascinated me my entire life, how you just click with some people and others, well you just don’t.
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. -Steve Jobs
Live & Learn
I am a relatively recent convert to Apple but you won’t hear me running around praying at the altar or Jobs.
If anything you’ll hear me say I am paying much more attention to what he said about time, heart and intuition.
It is because I can hear the clock ticking and feel like I spent far too much time trapped in certain boxes and because I look at life and know anything can happen.
I look at Jobs and see a very smart and very wealthy man who died young.
All that intellect and all that money couldn’t stop his illness from taking his life.
Maybe it helped him secure a little more time, but a man who didn’t tickle 100 or even pass 60 has barely lived.
I hate the idea of dying young and hope to never experience it.
I have too much to do and to see. Too much to teach my children and too much to experience.
Family history suggests I have a decent shot at living for a significant amount of time, but it also shows I might not or that I could do so with more health issues than I would like.
So I try to strike a balance of exercise/eating right against having a good life and enjoying the food I eat.
Find Your Tribe
The kids have been talking about some of their concerns about existing changes and those that are coming and I have done my best to help them.
I told them we all have a tribe we belong to and are a part of.
Some members come and go and sometimes we are the people that leave the tribe but if you have to leave, well there is always another.
Go out and find your tribe.
Those who love and care for you will be there and will accept you for who you are. They’ll celebrate your weirdness with you.
And those who choose let go, well let them walk their path. Maybe it will intersect with yours down the road and maybe it won’t.
Part of the joy of the journey comes from not knowing what will happen or who will be there. Life should be an adventure, live hard, love hard and play hard.
Mostly, celebrate your weirdness and know everyone is a little bit weird, even the cool kids.
