Buckminster Fuller, the discoverer/inventor of the geodesic dome, at age thirty-two contemplated suicide for a few hours one night at the edge of Lake Michigan, as the story goes, after a series of business failures that left him feeling he had made such a mess of his life that the best move would be for him to remove himself from the scene and make things simpler for his wife and daughter. Apparently everything he had touched or undertaken had turned to dust in spite of his incredible creativity and imagination, which were only recognized later. However, instead of ending his life, Fuller decided {perhaps because of his deep conviction in the underlying unity and order of the universe, of which he knew himself to be an integral part} to live from then on as if he had died that night. Being dead, he wouldn't have to worry about how things worked out any longer for himself personally and would be free to devote himself to living as a representative of the universe. The rest of his life would be a gift. Instead of living for himself, he would devote himself to asking, "what is it on this planet {which he referred to as Spaceship Earth} that needs doing that I know something about, that probably won't happen unless I take responsibility for it?
( Jon Kabat-Zinn )
[ Wherever You Go, There You ]
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