I found out about John Gardner’s “Personal Renewal” from a tweet by @karounos. Being employed in the public sector one gets struck by boredom fairly easily and even when not bored one wonders on the meaning of his work:
Someone said to me the other day “How can I be so bored when I’m so busy?” And I said “Let me count the ways.”
I found this essay highly inspirational:
There’s a myth that learning is for young people. But as the proverb says, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” The middle years are great, great learning years. Even the years past the middle years. I took on a new job after my 77th birthday — and I’m still learning.
and even amusing at times:
Another example was Pope John XXIII, a serious man who found a lot to laugh about. […] When someone asked him how many people worked in the Vatican he said “Oh, about half.”
Do yourself a favor and read the speech, even when on the bus.
Managing organized complexity 
Τελικά failure is an option. Δέν ξέρω όμως ποιό θα είναι τελικά το αποτέλεσμα του να γίνουμε λιγότερο αυστηροί κριτές του εαυτού μας. Θα μεταδώσουμε λιγότερα συμπλέγματα στην επόμενη γενιά;