It’s been over a decade since Steve Jobs left this world. At just 56 years old and suffering from pancreatic cancer, he passed away in 2011. Yet he had time in his life to be one of the most illustrious figures in technological historybeing one of the founders of Apple and bringing revolutionary devices such as the iPod or the iPhone.
On a more intimate level, Jobs was also a particular type of guy with a very thoughtful character. A sample is the email that was sent when I already knew I was about to die. It wasn’t the last email Steve Jobs sent, but it was one of the most important because of the lesson it taught himself and, ultimately, everyone else. Because despite his ingenuity, he was ultimately “just a human being like any other.”
“All my recognition and wealth are meaningless”
The Steve Jobs Archive is a project created two years ago by Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’ widow. It is a non-profit website that aims to honor the memory of the Apple co-founder. It contains never-before-seen photos and anecdotes.
One such story is the email that Steve Jobs sent himself in 2010while there was still a year left before his death. He was aware of the seriousness of his illness, despite the controversial treatments he decided to expose himself to. The fact is that in this email he wanted to offer himself a cure of humility in front of a world that had already had him as an illustrious figure for decades.
Here’s a small excerpt of the deep thoughts Jobs sent to himself:
“In other eyes, my life is the essence of success, but apart from work, I have some joy, and in the end wealth is just a reality of life that I am used to. Right now, lying in bed, sick and remembering my whole life, I realize that all my gratitude and all my wealth are meaningless in the face of imminent death.
“I didn’t invent the transistor”
Being down to earth means, among other things, being aware that even your best achievements do not match those of many others. Perhaps, in cases like Jobs’, inventions like the iPhone have enormous relevance, although it is also essential not to lose one’s humility. Given this, Jobs also wrote the following:
“I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object-oriented programming, or most of the technologies I work with. I love and admire my species, living and dead, and I am totally dependent on them for my life and well-being.”
In this impulse to value everything that surrounds him and that forms his being, he continued these words with many others:
“I grow very little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow, I did not produce or perfect the seeds. I knit none of the clothes I wear. I speak a language I did not invent or refine. I did not discover the mathematics I use. I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not design or help legislate, nor do I oversee or arbitrate them. I am moved by music I did not compose when I needed medical attention. I could not help but survive.
It is not known if Steve Jobs often sent himself these kinds of reflections, but it is undoubtedly a memory that will remain forever and that ultimately invites each of us to a deeper reflection. In short, to keep our feet on the ground by observing how even some of the most important people of our time have tried to do the same.
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