Da inspiração

Trago para aqui um vídeo que deixei no Facebook no final do ano passado, pelos meus anos.
Foi-me "oferecido" por uma amiga-irmã, que me conhece de dentro para fora.
Adorei, claro, ela bem o sabia. É excelente, com mensagens fundamentais, ditas com humor. Adoro.
O discurso em si tem cerca de 11 minutos.


Podem vê-lo aqui, e encontram o discurso transcrito aqui.

Antes de descobrir a transcrição, à medida que ia escutando ia anotando as partes que mais me falaram. Foram estas – e adoro particularmente as lições 2, 7 e 9:

Searching for meaning is like searching for a rhyme scheme in a cook book: you won’t find it and you’ll bugger up your soufflé.

Nine life lessons:

1. (...) I advocate passion, dedication to the pursuit of short term goals: be micro-ambitious, put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you; you never know where you might end up. (...) You should be careful of long-term dreams: if you focus too far in front of you, you won't see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye.

2. Don't seek happiness. Happiness is like an orgasm: if you think about it too much, it goes away. (...)

3. Remember: it's *all* luck; you are lucky to be here, you are incalculably lucky to be born, and incredibly lucky to be brought up by a nice family that helped you get educated and encouraged you to go to Uni. (...)

4. Exercise. (...) Play a sport, do yoga, pump iron, run, whatever, but take care of your body; you're gonna need it. (...)

5. Be hard on your opinions. (...) We must think critically, and not just about the ideas of others; be hard on your beliefs, take them out on the verandah and hit them with a cricket bat. Be intellectually rigorous, identify your biases, your prejudices, your privileges. (...)

6. Be a teacher, please, please, please be a teacher. Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world; you don't have to do it forever, but if you're in doubt about what to do, be an amazing teacher. (...) Even if you're not a teacher, be a teacher; share your ideas, don't take for granted your education, rejoice in what you learn, and spray it.

7. Define yourself by what you love. (...) We have a tendency to define ourselves in opposition to stuff. (...) But try to also express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your praise of those you admire. Send thank you cards and give standing ovations; be pro-stuff, not just anti-stuff.

8. Respect people with less power than you. (...) I don't care if you're the most powerful cat in the room, I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful.

9. Don't rush. You don't need to already know what you're gonna do with the rest of your life. (...) Don't panic. Most people I know who were sure about their career-path at 20 are having middle-life crisis now.
(...)

There is only one sensible thing to do with this empty existence, and that is fill it. (…). Fill it. And in my opinion, until I change it, life is best filled by learning as much as you can about as much as you can. Taking pride in whatever you’re doing. Having compassion, sharing ideas, running, being enthusiastic. And then there’s love, and travel, and wine, and sex, and art, and kids, and giving, and mountain climbing, but you know all that stuff already. It’s an incredibly exciting thing this one meaningless life of yours.

Obrigada, minha Irmã.