I’m almost 50 and still don’t really know who I am, and at turns, what the fuck I’m doing.
Outwardly I’m successful. Married. Two children. Nice house. Good job. Friends. A life.
All indicative of success.
But what do I stand for? What do I believe in?
What values do I hold, not just firmly, but eternally? What torch do I bear? What lantern do I hold aloft in the prow of a ship in the night of a storm-tossed sea?
Do values even exist, in this postmodern age where objective truth is apparently a myth, and reality subjective?
Yes, they do. There are Universal Truths. From whence they derive, I’ll leave for another day. But they exist, and they are the framework for leading a meaningful life.
I’m still figuring mine out. But here’s a hard-earned one I believe in. One I can say, you’re not moving me off of, motherfucker.
Truth is what holds civilization together. Everything depends on people who outwardly commit to a course of action and then inwardly follow through. Who don’t swindle, cheat, or otherwise elide the truth. Who resist the temptation of lying in the service of other “commitments” -- quarterly reports, shareholders, whims of their spineless, shit bosses, their cock. And commit to doing the right thing.
Even when it hurts.
Because everything depends on it.
When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.
When you don’t tell the truth, you murder something in you.
I try to operate this way. I don’t always succeed … but I largely do. On the important matters.
I like to think others largely abide by truth, though they often don’t, with spectacular collapses and destruction left in their wake. See the 30-year-old shitbag “genius” CEO from FTX who cost his investors billions with his lies.
Elizabeth Holmes. Bernie Madoff. The examples stagger. Read “Rogues in the House” and you see what’s at stake.
Without a commitment to truth, everything we stand on is shifting sand. Collapse is imminent.
Easy to say, very hard to implement. It means you must take accountability for your actions. But you've got to do it. Hold the line.
Above all, it must be Truth.
3 comments:
Hear, hear.
First, good Metallica quote.
Second, I was raised Catholic. I no longer follow that path, but there is a lot of wisdom in the tradition. One of the guiding principles of my life is this one, from St. Augustine. Augustine was writing during the fall of the Roman Empire, which--from is perspective--was nearly unimaginable. He wrote, “Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.”
Know what is yours to carry, my friend. The weight of the world will crush you. Be a good dad, a good person, a dependable, law abiding, responsible citizen...that's what we can do. Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
Finally: welcome to middle age, homie. The struggle is real.
Peace.
Thanks man. Love the quote... each to his part.
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