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Life’s relevance is, perhaps, relative in the eyes of the beholder. Everyone’s uniquely individual. So be it. Ultimately, we all want to make a difference in this life. Like Werner Erhard, I’ve come to believe that authentic self-expression makes a difference specifically for others. My sincerest wish, deep down, is that I leave the world a little better than when I came into it.
So what really makes you relevant? That might not be so different for each of us as varied as we are defined.
On my Program at work, I help run an Engineering Review Board for tracking and reporting discrepancies and anomalies. A much respected Senior Scientist requested an answer for his question a couple of months back. The responsible Program Manager answered the question a couple of months back as well, which I thought was transparent. Apparently, that was not the case for the Senior Scientist.
In the larger context, the question was not going to impact process or schedule, at least for most of us. It occurred as nearly irrelevant.
Then I got it. It wasn’t so much that his question might have been irrelevant. The Senior Scientist’s possible upset was that he may be thought of as irrelevant.
I spoke with my Review Board Meeting Lead Cal. He presented the good idea of addressing the Senior Scientist’s question at the next meeting. I said, “I think he just wanted to be heard.” Really, he wanted to be gotten. He wanted to be gotten as relevant. I had complete compassion for that. Being relevant is what it is to be human.
Relevance in life might be all about being gotten by others, and making a difference for others either small or profound. In a way, relevance is being acknowledged for having mattered, that we counted in some way.
If you are fortunate, you might be acknowledged as the GOAT, “Greatest of All-Time”, in what you do. Obviously, that’s relevance. That’s legacy. Yet, most of us will never be the GOAT of anything. So is not being the GOAT of any particular thing without relevance? Nope.
I’ve never been the GOAT of anything. Nor have I aspired as such. I know I’ll never be the GOAT of online dating. Amen. Yet, I continue to give it my best with the possibility of discovering my soulmate.
I’ve trained in Aikido for 30 years. I’m pretty good. I can hold my own. I’ll never be the GOAT. Yet, I discover relevance in being Sensei, giving back to students what I gotten from Sensei Dan and Sensei Bobby. That’s meaningful to me. It’s purposeful. I have the possibility of helping create the greater than version of others, who shall succeed and replace me. That is just the nature of life. I get that.
Relevant is doing what you love. Like Sensei, who at 80 years-old would teach kids how to take falls and use their one-point “ki”, I’ve discovered that being of service to others is relevant. Relevance is giving something of value from myself to others that they can use. Relevancy invents your authentic and lasting legacy.
When Hamlet passes in the arms his dearest friend Horatio in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, he says:
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night; sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Our time on Earth is no doubt finite. So make a difference. So be of service to others. So fall madly and deeply in love. Why? Well, why not?
My sincerest hope that in my rest, I would have lived the relevant life. And I wish the same for all of us. Just saying.
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This post was previously published on www.facebook.com and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: Istockphoto.com
Such an inspiring blog. Thanks very much for reminding each of us of the power of acknowledgement and about making a difference. I loved the way you got down in the dirt about making a difference.
“Relevance is giving something of value from myself to others that they can use. ”
and the idea of service! Service to others, service to a common goal.
How different that is than trying to attain something…
Thanks!
Thank you, Cort.