Definitely worth watching for all us workaholics.
This is an enlightening talk out of Sydney by Nigel Marsh, who maintains that our employers (particularly the commercial companies) try to suck as much energy out of us as possible, leaving little for the most important things in our life, our family, our wellbeing, our inner selves, and sex. He describes spending an afternoon with his youngest child, only to learn that this was the happiest day of his son's life.
Indeed when we remember our fond family moments as children, it is the small things that stand out. Going for walks together, card games, fishing, golf, the beach, rather than spectacular events and shows.
As adults, it is too easy to get into the spiral of running after professional success. Money, gold cards on airlines, hobnobbing with rich and famous. Or, in the case of scientists, key speeches at major conferences, articles in Nature and Science, invitations from Harvard and Oxford.
As someone who has been in this race for over thirty years, I have made my share of mistakes. Too much travel when my kids were growing up, for example. My now adult son recently told me that as a child he used to sleep with my t-shirt when I would fly (frequently) abroad. Had I known, would I have done it differently?
As my colleague Dr. Cal Torneck (University of Toronto) once put it, "At the end of the day, it's family that counts". "They're the ones who really miss you when you're dead and gone". And I hasten to add, "No one has their CV on their tombstone."
Has anyone invited Paul Simon to speak at TED? They should. I am reminded of some of his finest lines from Slip Sliding Away:
"And I know a father who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons for the things he'd done
He came a long way just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and he headed home again
God only knows, God makes his plan
The information's unavailable to the mortal man
We're workin' our jobs, collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway, when in fact we're slip sliding away"
He longed to tell him all the reasons for the things he'd done
He came a long way just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and he headed home again
God only knows, God makes his plan
The information's unavailable to the mortal man
We're workin' our jobs, collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway, when in fact we're slip sliding away"
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