✏️ The Road to Self-Improvement
A great sign of a meaningful life is the feeling that one is continually improving and growing out of their former self. When we begin to stagnate, to fall into a benign routine that lacks challenge and inspiration, that is when we begin to waste the life that we are blessed with.
There are many ways to self-improve: the pursuit of knowledge through the continual reading of books renews the soul and exposes one to new feelings, perspectives, and ways of looking at the world; the pursuit of excellence, whether that be at work or in another realm, can not only improve one’s material life but can make one a more competent individual better able to contribute and give to the world; and the pursuit of virtue, emotional intelligence, and healthy relationships with others is arguably the most important tasks of one’s life and, in many ways, is the meaning of a well-lived life. We are all interconnected, and becoming morally thinking, positive members of our families, communities, nations, and world is a goal for all humans to strive for.
Give yourself credit where credit is due, but never lose your drive for self-improvement and growth.
📸 Photo of the Week
With great power comes great responsibility.
📖 Book of the Week — Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
The last of Tolstoy’s major novels and a book that I found in a local used book store yesterday.
Tolstoy's vision of redemption, achieved through loving forgiveness and his condemnation of violence, dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of guilt, anger, and forgiveness, Resurrection is at the same time a panoramic description of social life in Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, reflecting its author's outrage at the social injustices of the world in which he lived.
I have enjoyed the early stages of the book thus far; and having read his two great novels Anna Karenina and War and Peace with great pleasure, I, therefore, deem this book worthy of an early recommendation.
💭 Quote(s) of the Week
Do not search now for the answers which cannot be given to you because you could not live them. It is a matter of living everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, one distant day live right into the answer.
Rainer Maria Rilke to Franz Kappus, 16 July 1903
🔭 Sunday Best
The Great Books Program — a 150 booklist by Tommy Collison covering the best books of human history, from antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to the modern age. It is my intention to begin this program in 2022 — how early is too early to take a sabbatical?
The hidden benefits of renting over buying — a perhaps controversial take on renting vs. buying by Khe Hy.
The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Digital Nomad — if you dream of working remotely in the country of your choosing, start here.
💡 Food for Thought
Humiliations give you humility.
Best,
AT