I was hunting down the origins of some of my favorite quotes today when I came across this:
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
Francoise Rene Auguste Chateaubriand
…and then I started thinking about all of the FIRST people I know or have met. Kamen, Flowers, Lavery, Baker, JVN, Wayne Cokeley, Dave Beck, Al Ostrow, Joe Troy, Dina Campagna, John Larock, …
To make Dave feel smarter, and Rich dumber (dumber for the fact that rich on occasion talks to me)
(Big Mike Starts thinking)…holy crap my head is on fire…I could say something funnier than Dave about Chateaubriand but i don’t know how to say Chateaubriand…(Big Mike stops thinking, and dumps a cup of water on his head)
I think that this is talking about anyone who is passionate about anything.
If your passion is what you make a living doing, all the better for you.
But, then there is the flipside of the coin. Don’t make a living doing what you love, cause then when you want to do it in your free time, you will come to hate it.
I can see both aspects being true.
‘Work’ and ‘play’ can be totally different occupations - in fact, there’s no limit to the number of things you can be interested in.
I think this speaks about one’s approach to life; it’s about finding ‘magic’ in all of life’s tasks and situations, whether simple or overwhelming. It’s about allowing the present to be new, and to be celebrated.
Dave,
You are so deep.
My first thought when I read this thread was a quote of one of the greatest thinkers of my generation, Maynard G. Krebbs, “WORK!?!?!?!?” (rising inflection on the last exclamation.)
Elgin, I have been doing what I love, all day long, every day, and have not hated it yet. (Thirty two years last Saturday, but really 40+ if you go back into my hobbies in grade school.) I only hate it when I can’t do it right.
Thank God, someone is willing to pay me for playing around. America, what a county!
I think that this quote represents a HUGE part of what FIRST is all about.
What is the purpose of a career?
The answer is multifold - one obvious aim is to provide some kind of beneficial service to the world. However, another function of a career is to benefit YOU, the employee, by giving you a sense of purpose.
What drives people to take a job? Some people take jobs (even if they don’t like them) so that they can earn a living. Others take jobs that will bring them a sense of accomplishment in their lives. I too believe that the best type of career is one that brings a person happiness through their work.
In order to be happy, people need to be constantly challenged by something. I don’t think that happiness can ever be achieved by overcoming ONE specific challenge in life. I don’t believe in the pursuit of a solitary “Holy Grail”, so to speak - I don’t think that the achievement of a SINGLE momentous goal is truly capable of bringing you happiness for the rest of your life. The reason why I don’t believe in a single “Holy Grail” is the fact that once you reach the top, you will become dissatisfied when you find that there are no more challenges left to overcome. The “denouement” will be boring and unsatisfactory, and you will wish for another challenge so that you can experience the “rush” of success once again. There is no *central *goal in life - life is a SERIES of goals that bring you happiness as you achieve them one by one.
In order to be a happy person, you need to continue to have goals. Your career should provide you with the challenges you need to keep you happy. Without careers (and their consequent goals) we would never experience the rewards yielded by success. According to Chateaubriand, the happiest people are those who view their work as their source of pleasure. Their work provides them with the series of challenges that brings happiness to their lives. If you find a career that you enjoy, life will be much more fulfilling and enjoyable.
In my view, FIRST is not merely a tool for inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and technology. FIRST is about guiding kids to find out where their future lies. Through FIRST, students are given the opportunity to find out what type of a career will make them happy. Some students join FIRST and find out that the** LAST **thing they would want to do is become a scientist or an engineer! Does that mean that the purpose of FIRST is lost on them or that FIRST has failed? Absolutely not! FIRST has served that student by helping them explore different career options, and has given them an opportunity to learn more about themselves. FIRST has created animators, web designers, business people, writers, journalists, and artists. All of these people have found their niche through FIRST.
Kudos to FIRST for endorsing this philosophy. It has changed the lives of many.
