To be honest, I was probably never as sad about someone I don’t know passing away as much, as I was sad for Steve Jobs. I was never a religious fanatic of his inventions, even though I have a Macbook and an iPod.
Nevertheless, this great person inspired me to write the words, which I always wanted to say to some people, but felt like I never had enough authority to teach them life.
In his 2005 speech on the graduation of the Stanford University, Jobs told three stories on life and death and this was probably one of the most life-motivating speeches about death I have ever heard.
I am personally attached to death because I came to it very close myself, since many of my closest relatives, including my beloved father, died in the past five years. My father’s death motivated me to do things that I’m doing right now. I know that many people (including my mother) think I’m crazy and that I could have been doing better – financially and career-wise, but as Steve Jobs said:
“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 others’ 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.”
I believe that I know what I want to become. Before my father died, I was doing things because everybody was doing them. You have to go to a prestigious school, get a university degree (and don’t even dare to drop out), get a nice job in a big company, get married and have kids. Well, I stopped before the “get a nice job” point, because my father’s death showed me that life is too short to waste it on people and things that are not worth my effort.
I know that many of my countrymen, young people, who had their ambitions and dreams when they were younger, now are trapped into a routine life, because they are afraid of change and because they think about others opinions more then they trust themselves.
They live their lives, working dull but stable jobs, because that is what “normal people do.” They betray their youthful ideals and dreams so that they can afford a car, a trip to Turkey in summer and an expensive drink at a local bar at the end of their dull work day full of routine and moral suffering. They go to clubs and parties not to have fun but to show off and look at others. They are concerned about what their neighbors think and they often criticize those who are different for being different.
Those people pretend not to understand, why someone can be happy with no car and no corporate job. They don’t understand why people keep trying to become photographers and painters, musicians and writers, freedom fighters and hippies. They don’t understand why people keep trying.
They say that no one can be happy with an unstable income but big dreams. They are afraid to admit that they also want to live such a life, but their inner voice is often muted by the disapproval of a common reason.
The biggest fear I always had in my life is waking up one morning, when I’m 56, looking back and regretting that I didn’t do things I wanted in my life because I was afraid – of change, of failure, of poverty or loss. At 56, I want to look back at my 20s, 30s and 40s and say “this is exactly how I wanted to live my life and I regret nothing.”
I’m not motivating people to risk it all. I’m just saying that they have to try their hardest in doing things they believe they are best at. Failure is the first step to success. I feel, that some people I’m addressing this column to gave up too early. They gave up not because THEY thought it is time to give up but because someone told them so.
People are social animals and sometimes it is oh-so-hard to avoid public opinion and judgment. Sometimes I also question myself, my reasons and opportunities, my talents and my activities. Sometimes I think – maybe I should stop trying to do what I want and start living a life everybody expects from me. But then I realize that most people don’t succeed not because they don’t have enough talent or luck, but because they never try.
Oh, and one more thing. The next time you stand in front of a life-changing choice and you are afraid to make your first step, remember – you would not change the world by playing it safe and giving up, but only by following your dreams and giving your best at it. Next time you would stand before a life-changing choice, think: “What would Steve do?”
Alina Rudya is a former Kyiv Post staff writer living in Berlin.
