I recently wrote a post for Darren’s latest Writing Project called 5 Inspirational Quotes for 
Conversational Blogging. It sparked a great conversation from people such as Shelly Kneupper Tucker, Jean Browman, Eli James, Mr Besilly, Derick from Reader Meet Author and a number of other folks.
Of course when I wrote the 5 Inspirational Quotes post, I couldn’t stop at 5. And I can’t seem to stop even now. So here’s another one…
William Osler, 19th Century Canadian Physician and one of the ‘great icons of modern medicine’ once said:
We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from it.
When I read this I think about all the things I do in my life where I have the opportunity to give. What can I do to make a better world for those around me? What am I here to add?
And with my blog, I think of the conversation…what is it I can add to the conversation?
What are you here to add? To life? To your work? To blogging? To the conversation?
(photo is a public image in flickr)
Regardless of how many lemons you cut open you will find that they mostly taste the same. It’s what we do with them that make us unique. When life gives you lemons, make a bright yellow suit.
I’m here to distill life into small, inspiring bite size chunks. In hopes of leaving behind a legacy of hope and encouragement for living. Life is funny… I’m finally getting the jokes and learning to laugh out-loud.
Thanks for getting the conversation started and including me in it.
Mr. Besilly,
You’re certainly welcome. Thanks for kicking things off.
I hear you. How much good can we add to the world. I’ve often said to people that my greatest work is to raise my kids to be the best of global citizens. I can cut it anyway I like, my kids will be, at minimum, part of my legacy.
Hi, Dawud. Interesting time for me to finally come over to meet you. The questions you ask are ones I love to hate because they bring so many more. Am I really altruistic? Am I walking the path designed for me? Yikes! When those secondary questions rise, though, there’s only one conclusion that seems satisfactory: I’m giving all I’m equipped to and know how to give AT THIS PART OF MY LIFE. All will be good, as long as I look at things from the perspective of continuous growth.
Carolyn,
Hi. Sorry to stir the pot a bit. Yet I understand…the best questions lead to, well, more questions. I think this happens because we ask something we may not know. Then answer then, teaches us something. And as we integrate that new information, guess what, new questions arise. Lovely, huh?
I hear you. I strive to do the best I can every day. Some days are easier than others. And all days are successful in some way.
This is an excerpt from my class page at my last (45th!) college reunion:
“I’m basically a volunteer at heart–I love learning new things and sharing them with people….
Basic philosophy–stay curious and open to life. No matter what happens keep learning and growing. Find what you love to do and find a way to share it with others.”
I’m here to add “love,” Dawud. Love God. Love others. That’s my motto. And love is sometimes gritty, sometimes tough, sometimes giddy, but always honest and fair and generous and kind and steadfast.
Must be late. That’s the fluffiest version of success I can imagine.
Jean,
That’s beautiful. May you find success at every turn.
I love the part about keep learning and growing. I think that things happen to us for that opportunity.
Mark,
I relate completely with you. I have my own, private motto. Whoever I meet in this world, leave them with a little more love, a little more joy a little more peace than they had before they met me. I guess it’s not private any more.
Dawud, I’m with you on this one. (‘Course, I seem to be with you on everything you write. Weird.)
I want to continuously learn, continuously teach, and continuously enjoy what God has provided for me in life. But if I don’t pass it on to SOMEone, I just become like the Dead Sea.
Thus, I blog.
The main reason I blog is to spread the love and whatever useful knowledge I might have. I write a lot about programming and web design because that’s what I spend most of my time doing. I figure if I spend more than 15 minutes trying to figure something out, it will be useful for someone else to post about it on my blog.
Hopefully I can help make someone else’s journey just that much easier.
Robert,
Looks like we didn’t get enough time at SOBCon together…
I hear you. I was once reading a book of Hadith and saw this gem…
Each person’s every joint must perform a charity every day the sun comes up : to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoistingd up his belongings onto it is a charity: a good word is a charity, every step you take to prayers is a charity and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity.
I was highly moved by this statement. Can you imagine a world where we all lived with each joint in our body performing some sort of good deed every day? I figure it begins with me.
Geez, that spam protection math problem is really challenging! :0
Anyway, before we all join hands and start singing Kumbaya here, I can’t help but point out that the REAL challenge in all of this is not in knowing what to do, but it’s actually doing it! Ouch!
Luckily, we have each other for support!!!
G. I. Joe. Man, that takes me back. You should read this story from McSweeney’s called “Journal of a New Cobra Recruit.” Hilarious!
Brandon,
I love what you’re saying. It breaks the stereotype of caring about people in a certain way. Incredible, isn’t it?
Thanks so much for joining in the conversation.
Robert,
I know. Funny that it’s meant to fool a computer and not you. I’m actually not sure it’s necessary considering some of the updates I’ve made to my comment spam.
You’re right. Doing it is the most difficult thing. I know I can name many things I know that I’m not doing that would better my, my family’s and others lives. G.I. Joe used to say that knowing is half the battle. But he never told us that doing is where the war if fought.
I just came across a great quote:
“The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.”
Corrie ten Boom
Amen to that.
Mark,
I’ll hop over and take a look. I thought GI Joe would be a good reference for people.
Jean,
Ooh…I like that. Thanks so much for sharing it. Have any more goodies you’d like to share?
Sometimes figuring out what we add to the “conversation” of life helps us find a more meaningful place in that life. A lot of people who feel lost or aimless are really just trying to figure out where their part in the whole cosmic balance is.
We all have a place. And I don’t believe that any of us don’t add something to the mix. Maybe the “doing” is the hard part. But we can’t do much until we figure out what that is.
I’m glad to see someone asking the question. At the very least this gets people thinking… even if they don’t have the answer yet.
Derick,
Thanks. I, too, believe that every person on this earth is here to add something. Even those who cause suffering and pain. They, too, are here to allow us the full experience of being human. I mean, we can’t know joy, elation, beauty, love, etc without their constrast.
The great thing about it is that the answers are our own.