What Will You Do With Your Precious Life?

I was reading an article about a project that has been ongoing since 2002 at Harvard Business School. Every year, they have asked MBA students to write an essay on a question from the poem The Summer Day by Mary Oliver, “What Will You Do With Your One Precious Life?”. Just reflecting on that got me thinking. Curious, isn’t it? The notion that you only have one chance at this life, but you’re learning all the way through. All our mistakes make us better and make us learn, if we accept the challenge. We need to make numerous mistakes to become our greatest selves, and not one single person knows all the answers. There is no rule book, no practice questions, and no solution manual.

My first response to this question is a fast and simple one, but probably quite common: “I don’t know.” Of course, this is a poor answer, because the less any person knows what they want or what they want to be, the more they are reducing the time they have to live out their potential. Recently my life, and my thoughts have been centered much around this question, and finding the true meaning that I want out of my life. I came across another question that sent me on my path of self-discovery a few months back. As a protégé for a mentoring program in my profession, I was required to write a mission statement. I had never written one and didn’t know where to start, so I looked up a guide, where I came across some questions. One in particular stuck with me. That question was “What do you want someone to say about you in your eulogy?”. As much as most of us hate to think of being dead, isn’t that where we should start to figure out what we want out of life? After all, I want to live in such a way that I’m remembered exactly as I want to be.Making an impact on people that will shape how they remember you when you’re gone doesn’t start in your old age, after you have kids, or because of a small good deed here or there. It starts now. If you want to be remembered as a kind person, be kind. Nothing is in your way. If you want to be successful, work hard, don’t give up, and people will see you as successful and relentless.

So I sat, looking between the question and a blank page in front of me. How do I want to be remembered? I want to be known as a great husband, a great father, and maybe even a fantastic grandfather. With changing family values, what if I don’t get there? What if I get divorced, then will I have failed? Just because feelings change over time, does that mean failure? I want to be a successful engineer with a good career and a passion for my career and life. There we go, passion, now we’re getting somewhere. So I delved deeper. I want to be remembered as the person I feel I am, but sometimes I think people remember the negative qualities you possess more than the positives. So I felt that I should change my reactions to certain things, so that I will be remembered the way I want to. So who do I feel I am? I’m caring, compassionate, and friendly. Have I always exhibited these qualities in the past? Nope. Will I start now? You bet!

So I write my mission statement. Now what? How do I get from A to B? What does the road map look like? No one told me there was going to be a test. This life stuff is hard. Focus. I’ll do it later. No. Focus. I want to be kind and caring. Start by smiling, being friendly, and helping people. Even those who didn’t ask you to.

So tell me, what do you think of this Quranic statement?

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