Eliminating Desire

I’m reading an article about Time’s Person of the Year, Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. Zuckerberg, on his page, uses the terms “Eliminating Desire”. What does “eliminating desire” mean in my life? What does it mean in your life? What does it mean for Mark Zuckerberg? For Zuckerberg, it means to not get caught up in short-term things or material things that do not matter. Eliminate desire for all that doesn’t really matter. This is a very interesting concept coming from a billionaire. I’m really struggling and think that a lot of stuff I do probably does not matter, but I think think it does or feel like it does. What could I eliminate? Where should my focus be? I need to go through and create a list of what is absolutely necessary and what is not. Wow!! This is an amazing concept. King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:10, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless". Could eliminating desire lead to absolute contentment? Excellent question! I should probably explore this idea.

The Steve Jobs Challenge--Love what you do.

Am I truly loving what I am doing? Some days no...but most days I love it. It is very challenging some days, but sometimes it clicks with students and I feel like I have achieved something. I watched a speech that Steve Jobs gave at a graduation ceremony at Stanford University in 2005. Jobs challenged the audience to “love what you do”. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be satisfied is to do what you believe is a great work. And the only way to do a great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it”. These words have been echoing in my mind since watching speech. What defines “a great work”? What does Jobs mean when he says “don’t settle”? I think both definitions depend on the person and his/her personal experiences. I tend to dream big so a great work for me might be different than someone who does not think on a larger scale. A great work can be a small task. I would love to make an impact on every single student that walks through my door, but in reality I know my influence can only go so far. Bottom line...Love what YOU do!