What Matters

Someone posted on Facebook some Steve Jobs quotes.  Personally I reckon he was brilliant.  So much of what he did was out of left field, but has become the accepted way today.  To me, there are very few that make such a big change.  I think of Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.
We tend to nip at their heels.  There are things that need changing, but it seems to me their organizations are here to stay.  I have conducted my own personal war against some places but to no avail.  Eventually I join them.  I refused to visit McDonalds for a long time, but now every week I get their bacon and egg McMuffin and love it.
What I read on Facebook really highlighted something to me.  Jobs died at 56 of pancreatic cancer.  Before that he said “At this moment, lying on the bed, sick and remembering all my life, I realize that all my recognition and wealth that I have is meaningless in the face of imminent death. You can hire someone to drive a car for you, make money for you – but you can not rent someone to carry the disease for you. One can find material things, but there is one thing that can not be found when it is lost – “LIFE”
I never cease to be amazed how from the cradle to the grave I can be so distracted.  There are tv shows that for me are a “must see.”  I don’t think I have missed a State of Origin.”    I am big on sport and watch a lot of it.  Drama’s and documentaries I can find interesting.  I regularly watch the news even though it is mostly bad news.  I think that is highlighted by the fact that good news generally has its own special.
Movies are a great distraction.  I love some of the stories and animation I find really clever and often engaging.  Steve Jobs had a lot to do with Pixar which I love.  I find that often when I want to have my brain in neutral, I will watch a movie or a drama.
I find it hard to believe.  Often when I am shopping there is music playing.   It is like I am dissuaded from thinking for myself.  It can be that something catchy is on, to encourage me to buy.
All good marketing ploys, but it is designed for the masses and not the individual.  I am the only one responsible for me.  It seems I could go through my whole life not considering what ultimately matters.
Steve Jobs discovered that.  I want to be rich.  I want to be powerful.  Unfortunately wanting it and having it are two different things.  But I don’t want anything at the expense of what matters.