The Dog and the Bone

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The Dog and the Bone is a fable ascribed to Aesop. According to the story, a dog was carrying a bone over a bridge. Looking down into the water, the dog saw its own reflection, which looked to him like another dog carrying another bone. Wanting the other dog’s bone as well as his own, the dog opened his mouth to bark at the “other” dog it saw, but in doing so, the dog dropped his own bone into the river, where it was gone for good.

The sad, hungry dog learned the hard lesson that, by being greedy, one risks what one already has.

Source: Wikipedia

Does Your Staircase Take You Up Or Down?

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I was watching The Next Iron Chef on TV tonight which happened to be the finale.  Chef Mehta ended up losing but what he said at the end was very thought provoking.  His metaphor about life was fantastic!  Check this out, it blew my mind…he said: “It’s a little disappointing (losing) but…life is like a staircase — you go up, you go down..but you must never think that the staircase only takes you down.  You must always think that a staircase only takes you up.”

The Road Not Taken

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“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

— Robert Frost

Through a Child’s Eyes

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When we were young, we were fearless. You talk to children and ask what they want to be when they grow up, and the answers will widely vary.  Some may want to be President, some a garbage person, some an astronaut, some a doctor, but rarely will they say they want to do anything average or mundane with their life.

When I was really young and obviously had no clue about reality, I wanted to be Superman. I had my trusty pillow case my mom would pin to the back of my shirt, and I’m sure I really believed I was Superman running down the street (faster than a speeding bullet, I might add).   Everything is possible through the eyes of a child.  At what point did you stop believing anything is possible?

TED Talk: Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off

“Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. He explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali.  (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK.Duration: 017:40)”

My Notes:

Sagmeister decided to disperse retirement throughout his life.  He has a design studio which has done work for the Rolling Stones, Adobe, Lou Reed, and more.  His TED talk above is pretty boring, I won’t lie, and I actually didn’t listen to the whole thing.  What I like about what he does is take time to rejuvenate himself throughout his life (very Tim Ferriss like).  Most people retire to enjoy themselves, and live out their calling toward the end of their life as opposed to doing so throughout it when we are more physically, intellectually, and emotionally able to benefit.

He found most people in general spend:

  • 25 years learning
  • 40 years working
  • 15 years in retirement

After the 25 years of learning people tend to find a job and maybe a career but few find their calling.  He defines the three areas as:

  • Job:  Done for money, 9-5
  • Career: Advancement and promotion
  • Calling: Intrinsically fulfilling

Sagmeister is obviously brililant at design as demonstrated in the video below.  Look at what he was able to do with his book titled “Things I have Learned In My Life“.  Simply amazing…

Things I have learned in my life so far by Stefan Sagmeister