"I spent the early part of my life trying hard to be someone else. At school I wanted to be a great athlete, at university I wanted to be an admired socialite, afterwards a businessman and, later, the head of a great institution. It did not take me long to discover that I was not destined to be successful in any of these guises, but that did not prevent me from trying, and being perpetually disappointed with myself. The problem was that in trying to be someone else, I neglected to concentrate on the person I could be. The idea was too frightening to contemplate. I was happier going along with the conventions of the time, measuring success in terms of money and position, and climbing ladders which others placed in my way, collecting things and contacts rather than giving expression to my own beliefs and personality. I was, in retrospect, hiding from myself, a slave to the system rather than its master. We can't, however, discover ourselves by introspection. We have to jump in before we learn to swim. We find ourselves through what we do. "I do therefore I am" is more real than "I think therefore I am."
Charles Handy (1997), The Hungry Spirit
What do I do?
- I run, travel, and write about it - in order to connect, share, inform and inspire.
- I question the system and its impact on the health and happiness of people and the planet itself, and I act to change it.
What do you do?
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