WE AMERICANS ARE voracious consumers of advice, seeking wisdom wherever we can find it: podcasts, books, TED Talks, life coaches, influencers, religion, therapy, Dear Abby, barbers, bartenders, Uber drivers-the list goes on. I'd like to add my personal source for guidance: obituaries.
It turns out, the dead know a thing or two about living. I've been an avid obit reader for decades for the same reason that artist Maira Kalman says she reads them every morning: "Maybe it is a way of trying to figure out, before the day begins, what is important."
Recently, I've begun using my TikTok account, called Tips from Dead People, to share some life lessons I've learned from obituaries. Here are a few favourites:
Success is measured in kindness.
Maureen Brennan-Weaver of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was accomplished by any standard measure, as a doctor, mother, volunteer. But her obituary comes to life with the tiny details: "Maureen was 6'0" and loved strays of all species. Could outthink any opponent. Was riotously funny and pathologically generous." That last part is the key to knowing her. "If you mentioned a thing you liked, she'd get you 11 when she found them at a great price. When a nephew wished for a plastic microscope, she found him a real one (at a great price) and painstakingly prepared hundreds of slides for his study."
Turns out that qualities like generosity are actually the things that endure, not the job titles or the purchases.
Overcoming obstacles isn't just for superheroes.
Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
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Denne historien er fra March 2024-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Calendar Girls
After Molly Baker’s husband died suddenly, her friends organized a year’s worth of support
THE GREAT WILDEBEEST MIGRATION
It's a spectacular sight when countless ruminants cross the Serengeti in search of greener pastures
Soumitra Chatterjee's Tryst with Destiny
The encounter that led a budding actor to a legendary filmmaker, and sparked an iconic creative partnership during the golden age of Bengali cinema
Frozen in Time
The life and work of Vittorio Sella, a pioneer of early mountain photography and the man behind some of the very first images of the Himalayas
HALLUCINATIONS
There was a monkey perched on the IV drip stand to the right of my hospital bed. It scowled at me, but I wasn’t afraid: A brief simian visit was part of my daily routine. I never questioned why there was a monkey in the hospital. I wasn’t lucid enough to recognize that my mind was playing tricks on me.
Music in the Air
Cuba is bursting with sound, and each region moves to its own defining rhythm
SHOULD YOU TRY A DETOX TREATMENT?
It's a popular new-year health habit. But science doesn't support it
Ringing True
He thought his late parents' wedding bands were gone forever
14,000-FOOT MIRACLE
The skydiver fully expected to die when her parachute failed to open. Instead, she's writing the next chapter of her life
I SURVIVED!
THREE UNUSUAL MEDICAL EMERGENCIES, AS TOLD BY THE PEOPLE WHO NEARLY DIED FROM THEM
