Four Words

Obituary. Cemetery. Crematory. Funeral.

Four words. Four words I have never liked. Not fond of. Wish other words could be used.

I get it.

I have dealt with all of the above words. With family members. With close friends. With clients. With professional colleagues.

Up close and personal.

Not afraid of saying the words.

Not afraid of talking about the words.

Not afraid of dealing with the words.

That said, I just don’t like the sound of the four previously-stated words.

Never have.

Never will.

With the death of Steve Jobs, I was once again reminded of how much I do not like those four words.

This word, though – eulogy – seems to me to be a bit more palatable.

In one of my favorite career reads – In Transition From the Harvard Business School Club of New York’s Career Management Seminar – there is an exercise that invites the reader to write an essay about “My Eulogy: How I Want to Be Remembered.”

I love this particular exercise in the book and I love it because it reminds me of how to live a life. It reminds me of Stephen Covey’s “Begin With the End In Mind.” It reminds me of how precious this day is and how I wish to live it with intention and purpose and mindfulness and gusto while I am here and while I can. And while I can do so with friends, family, clients, colleagues. And readers who by chance stumble upon this post.

Steve Jobs. Icon. Visionary. Ideas. Transformational. Genius. Change-maker of the world. Defining figure. Brilliant. Profound. Insanely great. A permanent dent in the universe. Legendary brand. Legend. Marvel.

I like these words.

Celebration of Life.

Memorial Gardens.

Remembrances.

Memories.

And words.

That last – forever.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address 

posted by: billiesucher

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