After a busy day I had a really nice visit with my buddy Jared. As always the conversation was wide ranging and satisfying.. but when we came to that exact point of ‘satisfaction’.. Jared shared a quote he’d just heard from the outgoing President of Israel Shimon Perez.
Perez was addressing a pro Israeli lobby group recently (don’t’ get me started on that) and was asked why Israel had been so successful in technical innovation.
He said
“The Jewish DNA doesn’t permit a Jew to be satisfied. To be satisfied is so unJewish, my God. And then if you’re not satisfied, you’re creative. You’re all the time looking how to improve things. And I don’t know a real Jewish person who is satisfied. It’s a waste of Judaism.”
What an interesting thought.. .. Lack of satisfaction as a motivation for innovation.. at some level, that’s so counter to my personal philosophy.. but.. the more i thought about it.. the more I had to grudgingly agree.. I can say that my own restlessness and insecurity about my abilities, knowledge etc has been one of the most powerful drivers for my wish to improve .. whether its something I’ve designed and built or my posture..
maybe the lesson here is to learn to go beyond that.. maybe if i could get to a point of satisfaction about myself, I could get more peace in my life..
maybe if folks like the Israelis and Palestinians could get more satisfaction. in their lives … who knows, maybe we’d we’d get real peace
nite all, nite sam
-me