The Big Brother Influence
“There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by.
A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough.
The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more.
The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet.
Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading -- that is a good life.”
- Annie Dillard
Do you have anyone whose life you admire not because you wish for their wealth or lust after their achievements, but because you see them walking their path with dignity and grace?
Do you know anyone who greets the ups and downs of life with perseverance and fortitude that inspires you to invest in building your own character?
Have you been around a person so comfortable in their own skin that you are instantly more comfortable in your own?
Have you seen a good life in the process of being lived and just thought, "Wow!"?
Such is my experience with my brother.
I wrote about the lessons he taught me last year on this, his birthday, and decided I'd let those words stand for another year and, in the mean time, simply add that I still hope to be like my big brother when I grow up.
Happy Birthday Mark!