ON PURPOSE
Saturday, November 6, 2021
Sleep and self-determination are essential but won’t get you far if you don’t know where you are going.
Not exact destination or timeframe, but having a notion where we want to go with an idea, what we imagine for making a better world.
It helps to start with a brilliant idea.
Or is that important?
Living on purpose rather than on accident is something I feel strongly about. I think it has to be there, but beyond that, I believe in being alert to opportunities and recognizing the difference between things that matter and things that are game-changers.
Mark Twain captured it well with, “ The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - 'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning. ”
How many great things were discovered by accident (i.e., X-ray, Viagra, Penicillin,) or when someone got a puzzling result from an experiment.
Not every idea or quirky thing will change the world or spawn fortunes.
Having our eyes opened, doing any little thing better, make unexpected differences. A few keystrokes to share innovations – a few mouse clicks, make available to everyone. When we solve any problem, we potentially solve it/innovate for everyone.
John Anster is the author of these words. He wrote them while translating Goethe’s Faust – so many wrongly attribute Goethe – but a magical improvement:
“What you can do, or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
Using the improvement does not diminish Goethe’s genius; instead, it recognizes John Anster’s brilliance. He slightly improved tough to translate German passages into English.
Lightning v. lightning bug!