Prologue

Over the years, I’ve worked harder and harder to find meaning in life. But the more I've looked, the more I’ve wondered if I was going about my search the wrong way.

I've been looking for meaning through experience, but I think now that I've always had it backwards. Life will never be defined by extravagant experience, but about finding extravagance in common experience. So for 2009, I'm going to focus less on living large, and focus more on living well. Each month I'll start a new month-long project (like trying to run 3 miles faster than George Bush), to find uncommon results from common experience. Each project will involve daily activity, so every day of 2009 you can check my progress on the monthly projects and see what I discover.

None of these projects will cost much—in fact, I think most will be free. So if you're looking for a year uncommonly rich, you can join me. There's no membership required, just participate and comment if you want. Either way, get ready for a year I hope is unlike any other.

It's March, and March is a …

A Month of Accomplishment (about)

~ or ~

Forcing myself to finish something (about)

06
16

Pursuing value

Written by Nathan on June 16, 2009 at 8:22 am from A Month of Serving.

Halfway through this month the only major question I have is whether serving is the action or the attitude. There have been occasions this month where I did acts that didn’t seem like much, but where entirely focused on my wife and thus I think they offered profound help. There have also been occasions where I realized some acts would have huge impact, but my mind was entirely elsewhere.

So which is really service? When I take my kids off my wife’s hands but let my mind wander isn’t that still serving her (and perhaps being a mediocre parent…)? And if there’s an hour where I keep my focus entirely on Jenn, waiting for the opportunity to act even if nothing comes up didn’t I spend the hour in service?

I don’t have a great answer, and there’s a part of me wondering if I’m wrestling with a question that’s not even legitimate. The answer could be both, or maybe even “who cares?” Fortunately I don’t need a fully developed philosophy of service to take care of my wife in the present. I’ll just keep plodding along, thinking on Albert Einstein’s words:

Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.