I couldn’t get comfortable. It was a straight back chair. I’m infused with a dull, throbbing haze. The prior evening included two cocktails, a late night dinner and four hours of sleep short of requirements for base level performance. A modest change in daily routine – having a disproportionate impact on operating equilibrium.
I’m sitting. Sort of. Restless. The metal bars on the seat back are leaving tracks, the comfort of r-bar. Rough, cold steel on skin. I’m twisting. Trying to find a comfort zone. Those seated behind me zig when I zag. I cross my leg one way. Then pull it back and scissor it over the other. I sit upright. I slouch. I throw my right arm over the back of the chair. Then the left. And then go through the cycle again.
I glance around. The room is fidgeting.
He walks onto the stage. He sits in a panel chair. He takes a drink of water. And waits for the interviewer’s first question.
He’s successful.
No.
He’s wildly successful.
A Horatio Alger story. He grew up in a family with modest means. His Father worked in government service. His Mother at home with the children.
The room is quiet. Locked-in.
His energy fills the room. His mind is whirring.
He shares his view and insights on a wide swath of territory. Domestic policy. Economy. Government. Immigration. Social issues. Philanthropy. The Arts. Conservation. His Love of Country.
And without breaking stride, he injects self-deprecating experiences.
We’re in his web.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: I’m 6x years old. My Father passed away about this age. When you are 50, you believe you have another half to go. When you turn 60, there’s a keen realization that 2/3rd’s is gone. A shift from a ‘lot to go’ to ‘what’s left’. I don’t know when…when my mind or body will no longer permit me to keep up the pace. But I have a lot that I want do…a lot I need to accomplish.
He pauses. Reflects. And continues. (The wildly successful man continues…)
A: What I really worry about is getting “that call” at night on one of our children. He shakes his head. Let’s set that aside. I worry about my children growing up with appropriate balance, with the appropriate values, given that they have been surrounded by great wealth. That is why I plan to give most of it away. At the end of the day, I want my children to be happy.
That is all that matters.
That is all that matters to me.
I see you there, I see the discomfort trumped by fascination and the distillation to an elemental truth – that they be happy. Our children. That’s all there is.
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Yes, yes it is Mimi. Thank you.
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that is all I want too–although a little of it myself would not be bad
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Laughing. True.
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“That is all that matters…” Yes.
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Yes.
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and i love him for his understanding of this.
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🙂 Yes.
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Agree. Their happiness is everything!
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Yes. I’m with you.
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Because I don’t have children, I can’t *exactly* relate to this sentiment, but I have always felt that my losses, and my gains, were felt as keenly by my parents as myself, if not more so. A powerful thing this….
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It is Lori.
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I’ve been in that room when what followed didn’t matter at all. That’s torture. You were fortunate. Getting one’s mind caught in an intriguing web makes the room immediately comfortable. Thanks for sharing what matters…to me too.
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Tiny, we’ve all been in those rooms twisting in our chairs more times than the moments when we’re caught in a web. I guess that is what makes “these” moments so special.
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Agreed. And you conveyed the sentiments in that moment perfectly.
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Thank you
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This is wonderful. I was consumed while reading it.
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Thank you Sonia
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