30. Don’t listen to me

I stumbled today upon a letter from a 22 year old Hunter S Thompson to a friend of his who asked about what he believed to be the meaning of life.

Throughout his equally meandering and eloquent passage, he raised so many points that were so incredibly introspective that I couldn’t help but share them. One of the first that stood out to me was this:

I ask you though, in listening to what I say, to remember that all advice can only be a product of the man who gives it. What is truth to one may be disaster to another. I do not see life through your eyes, nor you through mine. If I were to attempt to give you specific advice, it would be too much like the blind leading the blind.

Which is brilliant. I don’t know what you’ve gone through. I don’t know what you’re struggling with. Conversely, you only know that about me which I’ve decided to share. Neither of us have the whole picture of each other.

The answer — and, in a sense, the tragedy of life — is that we seek to understand the goal and not the man. We set up a goal which demands of us certain things: and we do these things. We adjust to the demands of a concept which CANNOT be valid. When you were young, let us say that you wanted to be a fireman. I feel reasonably safe in saying that you no longer want to be a fireman. Why? Because your perspective has changed. It’s not the fireman who has changed, but you. Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on. Every reaction is a learning process; every significant experience alters your perspective.

Perspective matters. My opinions on literally anything only are applicable if the sum of your experiences are near to mine.

This is a thing that I’ve always found irresponsible of the self-identified. As a general rule of thumb, I don’t trust anyone who self-describes as an ‘expert’ a ‘guru’ an ‘entrepreneur’ or the like.

Just do you. Do what you find interesting, help others out, and don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t go as you’d planned. Plans are nothing, it’s the planning that’s everything.

Do something that matters, no matter the size of the impact.