The mirror test

Today is the first day of the next part of my life. Yesterday was my last day at the company that has nurtured and sustained me for the last twelve years, from which I parted on good terms and with many wonderful friends. And last night, in a rather shell-shocked state, I got a very encouraging message about the future from Steve Jobs, via BoingBoing.

In his commencement speech at Stanford on Sunday, Jobs told three stories about second chances. BoingBoing quoted the following lines

I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Yup.

The other stories are encouragements to drop out and trust that things will be OK; or, as was the case when he was fired from Apple, to trust that things will be OK when you're dropped.

He ended his speech with the words on the back cover of the final edition of the Whole Earth Catalog: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." Since I'm a rather satisfied and conscientious type, I'll recast the advice to myself as follows: "Get hungry. Get foolish."