I was in Florida, in Boca Raton on business this week. Quite by happenstance during my stay here, I received this this message from my uncle who shared a message from his parents sent in 1969.
I had a chance to ruminate over the meaning of this message, when a I got a chance to walk on the beach during a free hour. It dawned on me that a 'family value' has been passed along that brings the Jeffersonian aspiration to happiness to life through a pragmatic and experienced perspective.
Here is the card:
Here are the the words from the card:
Grandfather - He who puts his ideals and ambitions of boyhood into practice when he comes of age is truly a happy warrior.
Grandmother - Kindness and Truth are the most important aspects in life. If one remembers and practices these two, life will definitely be happy.
And here is my interpretation:
The important point in the Grandfather message is that the ideals that are formed when we are young and before cynicism sets in are the true ideals, which if followed makes you happy.
Similarly in the Grandmother message - Truth and Kindness are two independent factors.
That is, one can be harshly truthful and hurt someone. Or one can be kind (to a friend who might be an alcoholic for example) but not be truthful - and hurt them anyway. Thus it is not easy to be kind AND truthful - but there is happiness to be attained, if one can pull it off.
Here is an attempt to better understand these messages by delineating the why, what and how of them with a nuance included at the end.
Why pursue the activities we do in life? Jefferson gave us a view, that it should be for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
What should we therefore pursue? In the Grandfather message, they would be the ideals and ambitions that we formed as youngsters.
How should we pursue these ambitions? In the Grandmother message, through the practice of Truth and Kindness.
Perhaps there is a nuance to digesting this message. Yuddhishtra famously said, 'Ashwathama is dead' at the height of the Mahabharatha war, thus creating a false impression to fell Drona.
We know from experience that we are capable of being occasionally untruthful, unkind or fall short of our ideals. Thus the nuance is perhaps that happiness does not rest in the fact that we have achieved our ideals and ambitions, but that in spite of our human flaws and failings, we are making every effort to do so.
I had a chance to ruminate over the meaning of this message, when a I got a chance to walk on the beach during a free hour. It dawned on me that a 'family value' has been passed along that brings the Jeffersonian aspiration to happiness to life through a pragmatic and experienced perspective.
Here is the card:
Here are the the words from the card:
Grandfather - He who puts his ideals and ambitions of boyhood into practice when he comes of age is truly a happy warrior.
Grandmother - Kindness and Truth are the most important aspects in life. If one remembers and practices these two, life will definitely be happy.
And here is my interpretation:
The important point in the Grandfather message is that the ideals that are formed when we are young and before cynicism sets in are the true ideals, which if followed makes you happy.
Similarly in the Grandmother message - Truth and Kindness are two independent factors.
That is, one can be harshly truthful and hurt someone. Or one can be kind (to a friend who might be an alcoholic for example) but not be truthful - and hurt them anyway. Thus it is not easy to be kind AND truthful - but there is happiness to be attained, if one can pull it off.
Here is an attempt to better understand these messages by delineating the why, what and how of them with a nuance included at the end.
Why pursue the activities we do in life? Jefferson gave us a view, that it should be for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
What should we therefore pursue? In the Grandfather message, they would be the ideals and ambitions that we formed as youngsters.
How should we pursue these ambitions? In the Grandmother message, through the practice of Truth and Kindness.
Perhaps there is a nuance to digesting this message. Yuddhishtra famously said, 'Ashwathama is dead' at the height of the Mahabharatha war, thus creating a false impression to fell Drona.
We know from experience that we are capable of being occasionally untruthful, unkind or fall short of our ideals. Thus the nuance is perhaps that happiness does not rest in the fact that we have achieved our ideals and ambitions, but that in spite of our human flaws and failings, we are making every effort to do so.
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