Three Key Resources on Legacy
Photo: Vecteezy
“Joy is the hallmark of a good life … Enjoy happiness, but surpass happiness toward joy!”
The Second Mountain : The Quest for a Moral Life New York Times columnist, David Brooks (no relation to Arthur Brooks below, but whom I cannot resist referring to as the “Brooks Brothers” now) offers us both “memoir and manifesto” on what living life is for, what it is all about. In this confessional account of his quest to live a moral life, Brooks offers much hard earned wisdom from mistakes made and wrong turns taken, but none resonated more for me than simply this powerful observation: “we are pleased by happiness but transformed by joy”. Wonderfully wise and inspiring for many, I would pick up this book if you have not yet found solace in the great poet’s Tagore’s conclusion that service is joy. Here’s Tagore’s full quote and a bonus reflection from another top 100 author, Jay Shetty!
“Use things. Love People. Worship the Divine.”
From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life Arthur Brooks first book, since turning his legendary focus to the emerging science of happiness (see his work with Atlantic magazine), offers a potent prescription for those need to wean themselves off of what he calls “success addiction”, the constant need to achieve at ever higher levels of performance in the vain hope of finding lasting happiness in your nest egg, job title, or (insert your favorite status marker here). While his book is worth enjoying in its totality, it is required reading for those who may have, more often than not, used people and loved things.
“Success can be the greatest barrier to stopping, to being quiet, to opening up the radically different form of conversation that is necessary for understanding a larger sense of self. Our very success can be the cause of a greater anxiety for further preservation of our success.”
The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self, and Relationship David Whyte serves as poet laureate for the corporate world and an inspiration for professional seekers who, to paraphrase Thoreau, “live lives of quiet desperation” in impersonal institutions and professional lives disconnected from what is deepest within. This encouraging guide for the perplexed is born out of its own sort of desperation itself, narrated in a delightfully self-effacing anecdote at the outset. The author lays bare for us our shared trilemma, holding the three marriages in a fruitful tension - marriage with another/marriage with work/marriage with our true self. His exquisite poetry and immensely insightful prose has spoken to many who are still seeking more from their already fruitful lives. Enjoy this brief video introduction to the Irish Poet to tide your over and whet your appetite!
For more about legacy, click here to learn about how life changes are often the most promising opportunities for growth and renewal.