What Is Your Life Worth?
Ok so I’m turning 55 this week.
That puts me a nose ahead of Peter Sellers, King Charles II, Paul Gaugin and Benazir Bhutto who didn’t make it past 54. But one step behind Abraham Lincoln, Ian Fleming, Adolf Hitler and of course Steve Jobs who made it to 56. So far so good.
I read somewhere that a man is at his prime at 54. Not physical prime – that you hit between 20 and 25 – that’s when guys win Gold Medals ay Olympics and become World Boxing Champions.
But rather intellectual and mental prime. That’s 54.
So I guess it’s going to be downhill from here.
So this is a good time trying to figure out how to measure what I have done in life. What are the most important things to count?
Money : This, unfortunately, is how most of the world keeps count. How rich are you? What kind of lifestyle do you have? How many houses do you have with statues of golden gargoyles? Which car? Because everything in the world costs money this becomes a measure. Also, the more money or power you have (yup I’m clubbing them together), the more people say nice things when you die!
Fame: This is rarer than money so it may be your choice. Many would say they go together but think – would you rather be Ranveer Singh or Samprada Singh. The latter is worth 3 billion dollars and is richer than Anil Ambani. Also, there are many who would prefer to be Nasiruddin Shah to Adi Godrej. When you are famous (for the right reasons of course) there are many who say nice things when you die – but this time they mean it!
Movement: This is a kinda cool concept. You don’t measure your self by how famous you are or how much money you have but by how far you have moved up in life. So a carpenter from Ajmer who goes to Jaipur and does really well may start designing small offices. And put his son through engineering college. When he looks back at his life he may have ‘achieved’ more than anyone else we’ve mentioned so far. They may have a Jaguar, but he’s moved from barefoot, to slippers, to a cycle, to a moped, to a scooter, to a Wagon R!
Wisdom : Interesting, a new dimension. All the things that we’ve been discussing till now you can’t take with you. When at 88 (may you live long) you lie on your bed knowing that the night will take you, you don’t have your cars, or gold watches, or your fan following, you only have your state of mind. Your wisdom, your intellect, your evolved mind – is this what you measure your life by?
Circle of Virtuosity : This is it. This is it. You may not be Ambani, Ranveer, or a carpenter, or very wise but how truthful, fair, true and loving were you? How did you care for your family? How did you help your friends, or others? How did you treat yourself? This is surely how you measure your life. My brother in law (Ticky) called this The Circle of Virtuosity. What kind of circle did you build, or are you building? Are you doing your honest best (because after all, that’s all one can do).
Surely this is the measure of life.
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