To know what counts and what doesn’t, you have to know
what you are dedicating your life to. There are, of course, no
right or wrong answers to this one because it’s a very personal
choice—but it’s really useful to have an answer, rather than
not really knowing.
As an example, my own life has been driven by two things: (a)
someone once told me that if my soul or spirit was the only
thing I was likely to be taking with me when I went, then it
ought to be the best thing I had; (b) my curious upbringing.
The first one isn’t, for me at least, in any way religious. It just
struck a chord with me, triggered something. Whatever it was
I was taking with me, then perhaps I ought to do a bit of work
on it. Make sure it really is the very best thing about me. That
got me thinking. How on earth do you go about that? The
answer still is that I haven’t got a clue. I have explored and
experimented, learned and made mistakes, been a seeker and a
follower, read and observed, and wrestled with this great prob-
lem all my life. How do you go about improving your life on
that level? I think the only conclusion I have come to is to live
as decent a life as possible, to go through causing as little
damage as possible, to treat everyone with whom you come
into contact with respect and dignity. It’s something to dedi-
cate my life to, and it works for me.
And how can my curious upbringing cause me to focus on
what I am dedicating my life to? Well, having had a “dysfunc-
tional” upbringing and having chosen to let it motivate me
rather than affect me, I am acutely aware that many people
also need to discard that feeling of being badly affected by what has gone before. This is what I dedicate my life to. Yes, it
might be crazy; I might be crazy. But at least I have something
I can focus on, something (for me) that counts.
Now, none of this is big stuff, and by that I mean I don’t go
around with this emblazoned on my forehead—”Templar ded-
icates his life to …” sort of thing. It’s more that quietly, in my
heart, I have something that I can devote my attention to. It’s a
yardstick by which I can measure (a) how I’m doing, (b) what
I’m doing, and (c) where I’m going. You don’t need to trumpet
it. You don’t need to tell anyone (see Rule 1). You don’t even
need to think it out in too much detail. A simple internal mis-
sion statement will do. Disney’s mission, for example, is: “To
make people happy.” Decide what it is you are dedicating your
life to. It makes the rest much easier.
IT’S A YARDSTICK
TO MEASURE
(A) HOW I’M DOING,
(B) WHAT I’M DOING, AND
(C) WHERE I’M GOING.
