Wisdom

What determines your success isn’t “What do you want to enjoy?” The question is, “What pain do you want to sustain?” The quality of your life is not determined by the quality of your positive experiences, but the quality of your negative experiences. And to get good at dealing with negative experiences is to get good at dealing with life.

What I worry about and what I am anxious about keeps me in an insulated, busy state of mind that stops me feeling the true depth and vulnerability of how much I care, how much I want to make a difference and how much I feel powerless to do it .

we are all capable of—and I’d argue responsible for—ascribing meaning to our pain, and this can actually give our life purpose.

Anxiety is not an answer to a problem we are worrying about but the measure of our distance from the place where the answer lies .

Just like few of us experience love at first sight, few will experience passion and meaning at first experience. Like a relationship, we must build it from scratch, piece-by-piece, until after years of brick and sweat, it can stand on its own.

And once we’re there, like a plane in full nosedive, we let it take us to our grave, holding hands, blanket... See more

Who you are is defined by the values you are willing to struggle for. People who enjoy the struggles of a gym are the ones who get in good shape.9 People who enjoy long work weeks and the politics of the corporate ladder are the ones who move up it.10 People who enjoy the stresses and uncertainty of the starving artist life are ultimately the ones ... See more

In this vision of redemptive labor, we can glimpse a more hopeful future where technology serves its highest purpose by eliminating true toil while preserving the sacred space for human hands and minds to engage in genuine craft. When automation frees us we gain capacity to redirect our energies toward the kinds of deeply human creative acts that b... See more

And while it’s possible to brainstorm some ideas to help one get started, finding meaning and purpose is not a five-day spa retreat. It’s a fucking hike through mud and shit with golf-ball-sized hail pelting you in the face. And you have to love it. You really have to love it.

Because if you want the benefits of something in life, you have to also want the costs.