If I ever wrote a manifesto… it would read something like this…
To everyone with a heart:
If I could die for one thing that would have made my life worthwhile, it would be for harmony…
If I could convey one thought to every human being … it would be that we are always simply “… a moment away from home.”
As I wrote my speech for the large CEO audience a few years back speaking of “Harmony”, I started it with the words…
“I have lived my whole life in someone else’s home…”
That is the best way I have of explaining to others how my mind and heart feel. And, there is nothing wrong with living in anyone else’s home. I am grateful to simply live – and have enjoyed and benefited from the hospitality and love given to me by so many who allowed me to virtually, emotionally and physically “live in their home…”.
I believe it is our nature to desire “a home of our own”.
To me, this metaphor is very real, in part because I lived in a rented apartment growing up, and it captured emotionally and physically so many aspects that defined me.
Other people refer to this idea as “finding myself”, “creating myself”, “living a purposeful life”, “finding God”, “achieving mindfulness”, “nirvana”… or “retirement” (kidding) 😉
I believe all of these thoughts are born from the same desire, and likely the same ambition. And, to me, it’s about finding “… home”, as a state of being.
A few years back I was given 5 minutes to explain my philosophy of life to several hundred CEOs… and those who know me, know that I struggle to be concise.
“How do I convey to you a conversation that I have been having with myself for nearly 50 years… in a matter of 5 minutes?” was both my thought and my words. “How do I share with you in such a short time, all that I have learned, researched, felt, concluded…”
“I am HOME… in this moment… sharing my thoughts with you… and the irony is that I now understand that
I have always lived just a moment away from home…”
I find “home” in moments of harmony…
moments where I stay away from the “WISH” that my reality was different, and instead fully accept the truth, the “IS”, of my life in that moment and, anchored on that truth, ACT on my “WANT”…
“You can’t touch it, you can’t see it, you can’t hear it… but harmony exists… and, you FEEL it…
and,
in every moment, we have both the power & the opportunity to re-create it!”
It’s critical that you understand this and pursue it deliberately…
because Harmony begets harmony…
and disharmony begets disharmony…
I have been searching for “it”… my whole life…
and, I have been sharing it along the way as best as I have understood it...
Harmony is sometimes who I am AND always who I aspire to be…
And, sharing it with the world
IS what I love,
IS what I do,
IS my meaning & my passion…
And, I WANT to do it better,
more thoughtfully,
more deliberately,
more humbly,
more joyfully,
more completely…
Success, happiness, joy… already exist in all of us… in our hearts… in our lives.
Do you seek greater joy? greater meaning? greater success? greater connection?
Do you feel like you live “in someone else’s home” too often? Be grateful… for all of it, for those who show us warmth and love and hospitality…
And know that we can all find our way “home”…
It starts with accepting that we exist
only in THIS moment…
In harmony,
Nestor