Page 140 - How We Lead Matters

Postscript

I am breaking format in this final section of the book, just as life sometimes
does when it jogs us out of our routine with the sudden and unexpected.
“The Journey Not the Arrival Matters” is a speech my daughter, Juliet,
gave before her senior class. Later that year, she was killed in an automobile
accident in her first few weeks at college.
Every student in her class made a speech during that year. In a sense, it
was one of many, an ordinary speech, given on an ordinary day, under ordi-
nary circumstances. But it is not ordinary, knowing the end of the story as we
do. These words from a young girl so full of love for life remind us that we
have always known how the story will end; the real question is what do we
do with the in-between? How do we make it count?
I give you Juliet’s speech as I would share one of my most precious
belongings with a trusted friend. But don’t feel the need to return it; better
that you pass it on.
For me, it’s enough just to hear her voice again.

Do you ever feel that you are constantly getting ready for something? In the
morning hurry up, rush, get ready for school . . . get ready for exams . . . prac-
tice hard . . . get ready for the game . . . get ready for college . . . get ready for
work . . . get ready . . . get ready. Set goals . . . work towards them. Everything,
everywhere points towards some one moment or place out there. When you
are “out there” you will be happy, successful, fulfilled. Everything will be
wonderful . . . there, then, when?

There’s a quote from a Frenchman named Montaigne which gave me the title
for my speech. “The journey not the arrival matters.” Montaigne was a philoso-
pher and a realist. He was not goal-oriented. To him it was the journey itself
we should treasure. I think he was speaking of life. Life is a journey we all take,
and in a sense never finish.

Marilyn Carlson Nelson 123