Personal growth: Is self-improvement eventually futile? December 20, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development.Tags: Before the Sabbath, books, Eric Hoffer, inspiration, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, writing
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When we are relatively young, the concept of personal growth and self-actualization seems like a far-reaching highway to endless vistas of possibilities; but as we grow older it’s possible we may reach the point where our efforts at further self-improvement may seem to have little rationale, or justification.
In his book, Before the Sabbath, the philosopher Eric Hoffer writes:
“Coming of short-lived stock, I have felt most of my life that my days were numbered. Yet only now, at seventy-three, do I have the feeling that there is no time left to make good what is lost or damaged – that any mistake I make is irremediable.”
It might be true as Hoffer implies that by the time we are elderly that we may run out of time to correct past mistakes; but actually, throughout our entire life, we are only one heartbeat away from oblivion.
I think the joy we obtain from our efforts in personal growth is in the process, even if the results may be imperfect.
So why not keep trying.
— Dennis Mellersh
Personal development: Aging and the evolution of ambition November 26, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal development.Tags: achieving goals, Henry David Thoreau, life, personal development potential, personal growth, personal improvement, philosophy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, writing
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It seems almost axiomatic that the big dreams of our youth diminish in scope and change as we become older.
Some people acquire a firm, fixed sense of purpose, a grand vision, early in life and don’t let go or change that purpose or vision until it is achieved.
Example: A childhood friend at age ten tells us that they are going to be a doctor specializing in brain surgery. And, they ultimately achieve that ambition.
For many of us however our dreams, our sense of purpose and our goals are in flux with the passing years. As noted by Henry David Thoreau:
“The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or a temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.”(1)
It is hard not to admire the friend who is undeviatingly dedicated and successful with their stated childhood dream, but the person whose dreams and aspirations change throughout the twists and turns of life might be more interesting and profitable for us to talk to.
(1) Henry David Thoreau, as quoted by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the book Selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson: An Organic Anthology, Riverside Editions, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1960.
— Dennis Mellersh
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