“Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow, so give it everything you’ve got” – Tim Cook

“Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow, so give it everything you’ve got” – Tim Cook

https://www.linkedin.com/company/stalwart-people-company/posts/?feedView=all

The rise of the rest. Sales of iPhones accounted for just 48% of overall revenue at Apple, down from 60% this time last year. The rapid growth of the Wearables (formerly Other) category, as well as the ongoing growth of the Services line which includes the App Store, Apple Pay and AppleCare, is up more than 30% from a year ago. Let me be the first to say that Tim Cook has done a superb job at Apple. Since taking the helm in August 2011, Apple’s market value has more than doubled (for a brief period above $1 trillion).

Tim Cook recently reminded the Stanford Class of 2019 Steve Jobs had stood on that same stage and offered this advice: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” 

At the rate I’m going, I’m not going to win this battle with time. I’ve come to accept this for what it means – that time has control over us and not the other way around. I’m doing my best to reach 90, but the reality is you’ve got less time than you think. Not this is true: Life expectancy is increasing, medicine is always making impressive advancements and many of us have committed to healthier diets and more physical exercises. 

And yet there is still no guarantee that you’re going to live a long life. That’s what they don’t tell you: you could still get cancer, have a heart attack, or get into an accident of some kind. 

In truth, we don’t control when we come into the world, and we don’t control when – or how – we leave it. We don’t control when we die, where we die or how we die. We only get to choose how we’re going to live. I’d rather live for a cause, than just because. 

Ever wonder what would happen if you had made different choices in the past? – turned right instead of left. said yes instead of no? If you had made different choices, some things might have turned out better – and others, maybe worse. In any case, you’ll never know.

If you choose what’s behind Door Number One instead of Door Number Two and you go through a tough time – does that necessarily mean you made the wrong decision? Is the easier path always be the choice? There are no wrong choices; only those we regret. 

In this context, the great challenge is to discern which parts of ourselves need to be accepted as they are and which parts need to be challenged to change. This is the same kind of balance we are looking for between knowing when to act and when to leave a situation alone. There is a prayer that speaks to this dilemma. It is invoked by millions of men and women around the world everyday: 

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

None of us escapes life alive. There are only two things we have to do in this world: we have to die and we have to live until we die. The rest, we make up.

In simplistic terms, Cook’s developed his own code for phone use. “For me, my simple rule is if I’m looking at the device more than I’m looking into someone’s eyes, I’m doing the wrong thing,” he said.

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