For me, one of the most influential things he did was his commencement speech to Stanford University in 2005. It’s been viewed on YouTube over 6.5 million times, but if you haven’t seen it before I’ve embedded it below or you can click on the link HERE.
As he states in the commencement address:
"No one wants to die," he said. "Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."
If you just want to read the text version, it’s located in the Stanford University News.
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Death of a person like Steve Jobs causes all of us to reflect on our own lives and the accomplishment in them. Most of us will never achieve all that he did, or at least not in such a far-reaching extent. But we can impact those around us. It is my hope that when it comes time to "connect my dots" a fantastic picture appears; one of a tender heart, caring soul, clever mind, rich spirit and love. A life that mattered.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this powerful speech. What an important message those young people heard that day. I wonder how many of them have taken his words to heart, how many have stayed hungry, stayed foolish. Using those words to drive them happily to accomplish their full potential, finding their full worth.