Decide who not to listen to
Clarke is among our most well-spoken busilosophers.
One thing I’ve found in my life: I like challenges, and I decided to build the bus just to prove I could. Given the dollars spent, the return on investment in experience and knowledge gained makes it a decent undertaking, even if I never get beyond where I currently am. I have very few regrets in my life, and I have had the good fortune of having a father who … was willing to let me build and try things, whether they succeeded or failed, so I was not afraid to attempt the unusual.
My experience is that so many in life are obtusely risk-adverse, and being unwilling to fail, they also are unwilling to do what is necessary to succeed. A lot of people have thought me crazy when they look at the things I’ve undertaken, but I discovered years ago that the most important element in personal accomplishment lies in a firm decision of which people you are not going to listen to. There will always be critics, but if you live an honest life of integrity, don’t take ethical “short cuts”, treat your wife and family well and with proper respect, and willingly help others in need, when the Great Day of Judgement comes around, you can know that you did the best you knew how to do and learned from your mistakes so you are prepared for the responsibilities of Eternity.
Everyone is different. We each have different talents, different challenges in life, and it is our lot to do the best we can with what we have and with the hand that life deals us. If we accomplish that, we can be grateful for a life well lived. And one of the most important things we need, in order to be happy, is a healthy dose of gratitude for the privilege of living in a free country where we can pursue our dreams and strive to be the best we know how to be. Many billions the world over don’t have that opportunity, and I become weary of thumb-sucking, pin-head Americans who live in the lap of luxury compared to the rest of the world who gripe and carp and carry on about how we should ignore the rest of the world, instead of doing all we can to extend those blessings of liberty and self-determination to those we don’t know in lands we haven’t visited.
