Rent Is Always Due

“I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success, but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life.” – Madeleine Albright

I believe it was Einstein who said: there are two ways to live, as if everything is a miracle and as if nothing is.

I prefer the former. Not that I am able to live like that exclusively, but it is my preference and intention. (And what we intend and prefer matters… )

It’s not, however, enough to have the thought of living as if everything is a miracle (of its own sort… ), we need to honor – through action – the amazing opportunity that each moment offers.

We must pay rent.

Paying “rent” is how we keep faith with life.

I see “rent” as being the best person we can and fulfilling our unique purpose as humans.

There is an elegant and un-relenting  perfectness to Earthly-opportunity/Earthly-rent system. We will never get any more than we give, and we get nothing until we give.

So, to sum up what is a possibly confusing post:

  • Being of service is the price (/rent) we pay to honor the (never-ending) opportunities our lives bestow.
  • And being who we truly are and making that manifest through purposeful action is how we serve.

Similar Posts

  • One of the Beauties of Life

    It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely* try to help another without helping himself. – Emerson Everything is sticky, whether you’re generous or stingy, helpful and conniving, thoughtful or selfish, . . .  everything rubs off on you. Be very careful what you rub up against – whether it’s…

  • Action Creates Luck

    “I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson The truth in TJ’s words is something I was blind to for some time, and I resisted it after that (still do, but less… ): it is only when we get…

  • What is Excellence?

    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle I am excited to write this post as…

  • How Can I Serve You Best?

    I am considering changing the way I deliver “myself” to you. Currently you receive an e-mail alerting you to each new blog post. I do my best to write a post every weekday. These posts are between 100 and 750 words (lately in the neighborhood of 300). What would you think of one e-mail per…

  • The Beauty of Service

    Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. – C.S. Lewis Real humility is where kindness comes from. When we think of ourselves less, when we know we’re okay, we can look beyond ourselves. This is where and when really, really cool things can happen. This is where service happens. Any…