Steve Jobs: ‎"If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"

Be warned, this is not a "make you feel happy" post, but it is still about finding happiness..

As most of you know, yesterday Steve Jobs passed away.  I know he was an amazing visionary, changed the world, etc.   He definitely put work first - but that is what made him happy - to each their own, but family will always come first for me.

As the flurry of posts on facebook came in - there was one video that kept popping up - a commencement speech at Stanford University that Steve Jobs gave

He goes into what he thinks is the key to happiness and one of the things he said was ‎"If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"  If the answer is "No" to many days in a row, then you need to change.

I have to say my answer would be "Yes" on most days.  Like most people, I would like to work less and spend time with my family more, but I do love my family and my job and feel like I have a good balance with both of those.  I do think I need to focus a little bit on me..but that is the whole point of this blog!  Either way - the video is an interesting watch and that is an good tactic to gauge your happiness level on a daily basis..

There was another story that came out in the flurry of posts about a kind of sad end-of-life scenario.  Basically Steve Jobs put so much time to work, that he wasn't always there for his family.  Here is a quote from the writer, Isaacson, about his last meeting with Jobs for the book, just weeks ago:

As a writer, I was used to being detached, but I was hit by a wave of sadness as I tried to say goodbye. In order to mask my emotion, I asked the one question that was still puzzling me: Why had he been so eager, during close to 50 interviews and conversations over the course of two years, to open up so much for a book when he was usually so private? “I wanted my kids to know me,” he said. “I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.” (http://parislemon.com/post/11101071134/speaking-of-the-steve-jobs-biography-its-author)

That makes me think (and know)that one of the things that makes me the most happy is my husband and kids.  I will not put anything above them and nothing will ever be more important.  So - in this whole process of finding my happiness, I cannot lose sight of that either...