Finding meaning in your story

“In the end, people don’t view their life as merely the average of all its moments—which, after all, is mostly nothing much plus some sleep. For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story. A story has a sense of a whole, and its arc is determined by the significant moments, the ones where something happens. 

Measurements of people’s minute-by-minute levels of pleasure and pain miss this fundamental aspect of human existence. A seemingly happy life may be empty. A seemingly difficult life may be devoted to a great cause. We have purposes larger than ourselves.”

— Atul Gawande, 2014
American surgeon and author

Today’s Invitation

Tell yourself your story to discover or remember your purpose.

This Week’s Query

Who would you like to age into?

How do you mature with intention?

Share your response!

Read the source of today’s quote
Banner art by Georgia Peterson

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Author

  • Atul Atmaram Gawande is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He was Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development under President Joe Biden. He left this position on when Donald Trump began his second presidential term.

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