I was listening to Haruki Murakami’s incredible memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running the other night.
It’s a quick read (or listen.) And it’s an absolute must if you’re a writer, runner, or (like me on my better days), both.
As I pounded the pavement on my piddly little three-mile run — at least it seemed piddly after hearing about the dozens of marathons Murakami has completed — a single sentence struck me as especially insightful:
“The most important thing we learn at school is the fact that the most important things can’t be learned at school.”
I nodded when I heard this. Slowed down to rewind the audiobook a bit just to hear it again. In a single, pithy sentence, Murakmi articulated something that had lurked in the corners of my mind like a shadow.
I always did well in school. But looking back on it once you’re out changes your perspective. I learned names and dates, sure, and regurgitated them fairly accurately on all the quizzes and exams.
But what had I really learned about how to live?
Murakami’s observation got me thinking.
While I ran I started to play a game with myself. I asked myself, If I had to distill the most important life lessons I’d learned over the years, what would they be?
I’ve never taken the time to consider this deeply – much less choose the ones that stand out and write them down.
That changes today!
I’ve decided to chronicle my “lessons to live by” here on the blog. And now’s the time when I point out this is tailored for me and me alone. I wouldn’t dare pretend to have all the answers about how you should live your best life.
The idea is to spur conversation. To get us thinking about which rules we should follow to live well.
I don’t know about you, but I hear “rules” or “lessons” and I cringe. Rebellion against constraints comes built-in to my personality. A lot of creative types feel the same.
With that said, I spend so much time floating from day to day. Sometimes I come across a particularly valuable life nugget. I think about it for a few days, and promise myself that I’ll always remember it…
But after enough time slips by, I forget it.
By chronicling these lessons as I encounter them, I’ll build a repository that I can refer back to in the future. The idea is to give myself some basic guidelines. To build a basic operating system by which I can live a better life.
Imagine how much easier life would be if you had automated rules that helped you make decisions and navigate murky waters.
Instead of deciding on a whim (often, in my case, letting negative emotions get the best of me), you could free up huge chunks of worry and energy and live to your fullest.
It’s my greatest hope that you’ll get some value from this. The forthcoming lessons don’t have to be yours. If I just get you thinking about which lessons matter the most to you, I’d consider that a giant victory.
I don’t know how many rules I’ll end up with. Or whether I’ll end up deleting or modifying some over the years. As I continue to get older, leaving this series open-ended is the best move to encourage growth.
So stay tuned for my first “lesson to live by”… and plenty more to follow.
Now, I have a question for you:
“What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in your life?”
Leave a comment or shoot me an email and let me know!
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Writing, Running, and Life's Most Important Things – Corey Pemberton