In my last school unit, and my last Innovation Academy unit, we will be engaging in some reflection pieces, trying to understand life better and especially our meaning in life.
James Schmidt starts by saying, I am going to talk about what old people do, because not many people challenge you to copy what old people think and do. We all know how older people have the skill to be quiet for several hours and just think, remember stories, reflect and have a moment of piece. Should we be doing the same?
James started by saying the definition for Self-reflection. It is the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence. Why live a life if we don’t see a purpose in it?
We all know the importance of anecdotes in a presentation. James mentions an anecdote about his father’s death and how that took him to realize the real importance of reflection. One-day he’s dad was picking him up, the next day he felt sick and went to the hospital. After a few hours he past away. That day made him think about life, he stood hours thinking about his identity and how something so close that was part of him had just left. | Link to the TedX Talk |
There are three things that all of us should do in life.
Take time to talk to people. Talk to everyone! From different ages, different cultures and hear their stories. Stories about World War 2, about how life is in their country, about a party they had. At the end, the knowledge stories provide is knowledge that high academic institutions will never teach you.
Appreciate what you have. You always hear people talking about their goals and what they want to achieve. How they will sacrifice everything to get to that goal. But, if you don’t enjoy getting there, if you don’t enjoy the process, you wont have happiness at that destination and at the end you wont appreciate what you have.
Finally, leave a legacy. Learn from past generations and teach future generations. Learn skills, hear stories from your parents and grand parents, but also teach skills and share your own stories and stories you have heard to your children and grandchildren. At the end, you will be remembered in life by what you did, and if you are remembered, it means that your life had a meaning.