He lived his whole life with the desire to amaze and the wish to be amazed.” This is what an Italian singer said of a colleague recently deceased. I find these words wonderful, the most desirable description of a life well lived. Don’t you think that a life well lived is what each human being should try to accomplish? I do.
And what, in your opinion, is a life “well lived”? You might believe that a financially successful career is what should be a man’s greatest aspiration. Or maybe a happy family life is what attracts you the most. Another may be after fame, admiration, physical beauty, body fitness. Are you smiling? Do you think that these are petty, lowly goals and that they are not really important? Yes, they may not be that important but, nevertheless, a great number of people, in this “modern” world of ours, are after them in earnest, desperately seeking to achieve them and become … a film star, or something of the sort.
The Greek philosopher Socrates said that an “unexamined” life is not worth being lived, meaning that you should always be aware of your actions, check upon your thoughts and behavior so that you don’t do or say anything mindlessly, without realizing the full impact of your deeds. The problem here is that you tend to base your daily routine on a ... “routine”, i.e. a fixed program, a sequence of actions regularly followed, without even thinking about them. Although every now and then you might feel a stirring inside of you, a mysterious desire for something new, different, you neglect to study such stirring, you ignore it, you consider it of no consequence. In so doing, you overlook the opportunity to do something amazing. It is not rare that a “normal” family man like, let’s say, Paul Gauguin, by just accepting the invitation of a friend to become a Sunday painter, first started painting just for fun, only on Sundays, and then, following the inner “stirring” of his soul, went on to become one of the most representative and original painters on the French and, eventually, on the world artistic scene. Who doesn’t know his beautiful Tahiti paintings, displayed in museums all over the world and admired by millions?
To amaze means to surprise greatly someone else. You can astonish the people around you with your creativity, with your ideas, with your skills … with anything “they” don’t have. They will appreciate your sharing. You may not wish to become a great artist and, possibly, you don’t even have the skills. Not everybody does. But in order to become an amazing person you don’t necessarily need exceptional capacities. The only requirement is to nurse a deep desire to “make a difference.” You can achieve this right at home, in the circle of your fiends, in your workplace … anywhere in your environment. You have to do only one thing: Walk the extra “mile”, give a little more of yourself, make yourself more available, more helpful, more fun to be with. If you have a particular ability, share it with others, whatever it is. If you have a beautiful voice, sing for your friends. If you can bake a fantastic cheesecake, volunteer for bake sales or for your friends’ parties. Help a neighbor to set up a website or fix his laptop, if this is what you are good at.
In conclusion, it is not enough to carry on through your existence by just living as well as you can. It might be wiser for you to try and walk the extra mile, to endeavor to overcome what you believe to be your limits. So if, at any time, you have desired to “amaze”, i.e. to do something that might interest or surprise others, something that might leave a trace, that might be particularly beautiful, or useful, or simply deserving to be remembered, go ahead and do it. It could be something that will not be remembered “forever”, by future generations like an art masterpiece. After all, you don’t really need that. What you need is to do something good “now”, something that can be useful to others, or give others some pleasure, or make them feel better.
Finally, wouldn’t you also like to experience amazement yourself, feel the innocent joy of a child in front of something new, different, exciting? Enthusiasm is one of the most important keys to happiness. It would certainly be rewarding if you could create in yourself an attitude of unyielding zest for life, of wonder and, along with the desire to make the best effort to achieve excellence, you could be also open to receive as well as to give.
