I read a short, but very good book about leadership tonight that was written by Marilyn Carlson Nelson. She is a former CEO of Carlson a global group of companies such as the Radission and Regent hotels, T.G.I. Friday resturants.
This is an excerpt from a speech her daughter wrote as a senior in high school.
"Do you ever have the feeling you are constantly getting ready for somthing? In the morning, hurry up, rush, get ready for school, get ready for work, get ready, get ready, get ready. Set goals, work towards them".
She goes on to talk about a quote from the Frenchman named Montaigne, "The journey not the arrival matters.". To him the journey was what we should treasure. Life is a journey we all embark on and in a sense never finish.
"We should all live and love each day-the bad ones as well as the good. Today is so valuable, it should be lived and enjoyed".
"Life is always so fragile. What if. . . just what if something happened to you today? What would trouble you the most. . . an abrupt ending? Unfinished studies? Unplayed games? Unperformed dramas? No...I'm willing to bet it would be unsaid words, incomplete relationships and unfullfilled promises".
"Each one of us is only given one journey. But if we enjoy it to the fullest. . . every, every minute of it, one journey is enough".
Juliet Evans Nelson was killed in an automobile accident during her freshman year in college shortly after writing this speech. Another life cut short, another young person full of love for life that understood the importance of choosing and living life as fully and richly as possible.
I think this was something that Kelly and her family understood and embraced so there wouldn't be unsaid words, incomplete relationships.
So many things for me unfinished. There is always another day to complete them, or is there?
those were very profound thoughts! Thanks so much for sharing them. We talked about this same topic last night at our CYAR meeting. One of the mentors from last year died. One of the things we were asked to do is think of two things that we want to be remembered for and write them down. No one that I saw was writing, I was had a great car, or I was good at basketball. They were more basic, more real... things that really mattered.
ReplyDeleteI love you!
-sue