Another article on Steve Jobs

I woke up from a nap this afternoon to my roommate’s words: Steve Jobs has passed.

And three hours later, I think it’s safe to say that everyone has heard. And everyone is reading about it. Myself included. I got lost in descriptions of Jobs: He was a visionary, a man who changed the face of technology, communication and entertainment, and someone who will forever be remembered along the likes of Edison and Einstein.

And he was also—as I had forgotten until just recently—a college dropout.

I re-watched his 2005 Stanford commencement speech, and this time paying scrutinous attention to his “three stories.”

In the first, he spoke of leaving Reed College, a decision he described as one of the best of his life.

In the second, about his work with Apple, and his premature termination from the company.

And finally, in the third, about death.

And it was this third segment that really hit hard:

Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

And it is with these words that emerging adulthood can be explained. In a time where many people criticize our generation (after all, we are often called Generation Me—those that are lazy, self-centered, and entitled)—Steve Jobs give us a reason to keep going as we are. This time in our lives is a time of change, and honestly, who cares if we take the time now to find our passions and dedicate our lives to just that.

Clearly, Jobs had it right.

And I’m not just saying this because he dropped out of college, and ended up creating one of the most successful companies of our time. It is because he lived every day of his life with the idea that if one day he looked in the mirror and didn’t like what he was doing, he would change it.

So in short, here’s what I got from his speech. Make the most of your life, because it will undoubtedly come to an end. Because if on this soul-searching, self-defining journey, you find that college is not for you—or for that matter, any of our socially defined milestones in life is not for you—follow your own path and do what makes you happy. And as cheesy as it sounds, it really is that simple.

And quite funny.

Because I find myself wondering just why his words seem so powerful now.. I mean, I thought it was a good speech the first time around. Is it simply a byproduct of exposure and repetition? Or more likely, is it because they are the words of a dead man?

(Sorry to be blunt. But I think that’s needed.)

We are all going to die, and so life will eventually end. Make the most of it, and take the time now to figure out what that means.