EPILOGUE

JOINING HANDS CREATES COMMUNITY

As you turn these final pages, I offer one final thought. I wrote this book not just to hand down my wisdom but to tell you that you already have in hand what you need to be happy. Like our hands and fingers, we are emotionally wired to connect. We are born to hold onto and reach out to those around us.

But before we can connect with others, we must connect with ourselves. We have to give ourselves the thumbs up.

A thumb was in the air during so many great moments in history. Whether it was the Beatles arriving in our country or Franklin Roosevelt saving it, an astronaut leaving earth, or a soldier returning from battle, a raised thumb raised spirits and elevated hopes.

The word “existence” comes from the Latin word existere, meaning to emerge. That is the work of purpose. As you find yours, a new life will emerge. It is a journey and will take time, but it begins with a feather of hope, even a thought.

Life works when you find your life’s work—the thing that makes you tick. The philosopher Friederich Nietzsche wrote, “He who has a why to live for can deal with almost any how.” I would add that when you have a why, you have a reason for being, and doing will become a pleasure.

No one said life was easy. Fear and uncertainty stand in our way. But when we realize that fear is not real, it’s easier to deal with the setbacks when they come. Rose Kennedy, who suffered great personal loss during her lifetime, reminded us, “Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?”

She kept marching forth. And that is our choice and privilege as human beings, not in the pursuit of perfection but in the name of progress. We are all works in progress. Our job is to create ourselves so we can create a kinder, more loving world.

Ours is the little planet where big things happen, like standing shoulder to shoulder, recognizing that everyone who has ever lived is connected by the need to love and be loved.

After the Nobel Prize–winning biologist George Wald received his award, he said, “What one really needs is not Nobel laureates but love. How do you think one gets to be a Nobel laureate? Wanting love, that’s how. Wanting it so bad one works all the time and ends up a Nobel laureate. It’s a consolation prize. What matters is love.”

In my son Julien’s high school thesis, he wrote, “Even in war, soldiers fall to the ground and hug the earth, only to be connected one last time.”

Connect to those you love. Reach out to those in pain who need help and healing. Hold onto the reins of life, as the ride can be bumpy and filled with challenges. You are the solution architect of your life. Hold tightly and don’t let go.

Thank you for taking my hand. Now, take yours and create the life you have always dreamed about. I hope this handbook will help you hold on to your dreams by living them, pointing you in the right direction by keeping your heart and mind focused, helping you overcome your fears by grasping faith, and encouraging you to think bigger by recognizing life’s most precious little things, including each other. Most important, I hope it shows you that if you follow this blueprint, life really works.

Everyone is looking for answers out there. You hold them all in your hand. So let your hand be a constant reminder from this day forth that if you want something, anything, all you have to do is pick it up. But begin by picking yourself up first.

Now, give yourself a big hand!