the wind
Completion, finality and relief. Tiny stepping stones to take one across an ocean. As I look back on the the years it took to finish a bachelors degree, I see more than just a few classes and tests. This was a real education, filled with hiatuses and experiments, false-starts and solid victories. I never wanted to settle for just a piece a paper and pat on the back. I wanted undeniable knowledge combined with experience. And now I have that.
During the process of getting this degree, I’ve started businesses and some have stuck and some have not. One thing that I’ve learned, is that one must create a system that takes an input and engages on a process on that input. Then that system must make the output have more value than the input would have had if the system never acted up on it. And the costs of the system must be more than compensated for in that aforementioned value.
This basic understanding took a few moments to learn, but years to understand…and actually know.
Another thing that I’ve learned is that relationships that last over time and are based on honesty are optimal for both friendship and business.
Looking toward the future, there are many things that are perilous for business. There is trouble in markets, scarcity of resources and stress upon the environment. Yet these problems are all sources for opportunity. I’ve decided to assist the system in any way that I can, to actively support the facing of these problems as opposed to sitting along the sidelines and being critical of the failures of others.
There is a old Chinese proverb that says, “May you live in interesting times.” It is a sort of joke, because interesting times are not necessarily a good thing to the respective culture where the proverb originated. Times that were less interesting and manageable were preferable to interesting ones. But we do live in interesting times right now, and that is unlikely to change any times soon. Perhaps that is going to be a source for struggle for this generation, but the struggle for survival of this generation will be what will elevate us in history from consumers…to problem solvers and sages.
Wealth is created through movement. So we will move.
May the winds that fuel the life’s breath of this world be at our backs.
-Tyler