Life Philosophies

There are two quotes that I quite enjoy when I'm reflecting on where I've come from and who has helped me get to where I am.

 Steve Jobs said, "Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

The first time I read this, I couldn't stop thinking about how true it was.  Four years ago, I was a high school graduate.  It's almost unimaginable to me now how different I was.  When I left for college, I planned on pursuing campaign management, which led me to majoring in political science and integrative public relations.   

There's is no way that as a fresh-faced 18-year old I could have fathomed the path college took me through.  It started with the Honors Program and went through incredible experiences from five months in Warsaw to internships in Ann Arbor and Washington DC.   

Unlike Jobs though, I don't trust my gut or karma as much as I do God.  The opportunities He has brought into my life are priceless.  Like Jobs, I can see how each event is interconnected.  In one of my interviews after the Fulbright scholarship, I mentioned how these things seem to have a domino effect.  But, anyone who's ever set up a row of dominoes knows that there is no way to know if the whole thing will fall until you push the first one.  As the old adage goes, hindsight is 20/20.  

The other quote I love comes from the conservative moment's beloved Ronald Reagan.   President Reagan said, " Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever know." 


Looking back, the path has been clearly laid out.  God could not have taken better care of me.  He placed people into my life in key places to veer my path in one direction of another.  My friends and mentors have been instrumental in who I have become.  Through late night debates about religion and philosophy, my faith was challenged deeply.  Politics was made exciting through my mentors and friends.  I've been challenged to produce publishable research by professors.  These things all are intertwined in strengthening my mind and tweaking my life goals and philosophies to reflect completely my values.

While some of these mentors aren't members of a different generation, Reagan's sentiment holds true.  We build on what other people give us.  Some of my fellow interns have been great bouncing ideas off of as I prepared my grad school applications.  Other people have given me insight into my morals, my education, my career goals.  Each person gives me a little bit of their own advice and this builds upwards into a platform for me to stand on and confidently make my own decisions.


I cannot take full credit for the things I've accomplished.  The glory must first go to God for giving me the opportunities to pursue such things as the Fulbright and graduate school.  There are also an untold number of people who have helped me along the way to get where I am.  So I want to give a heartfelt thank you, from the bottom of my heart. 


Taken together, these two quotes sum up my basic life philosophy.  First, God will always provide.  Secondly, I cannot accomplish anything without the help of others.  I stand firm only because others have given me a solid platform.  Third, there is no way for me to comprehend where life is going to take me.  Instead, I take opportunities as they present themselves with the understanding that one day, the knowledge and experience will make sense as I look back.  No experience is useless; time precedes understanding.