Sent during my last day with Loud Crow Interactive back in 2014. Sitting at a career crossroads with untold opportunity awaiting.

‘Last Day’ approaches.

In the past I would send out a simple email thanking everyone for a wonderful opportunity to learn, create, and grow. Those were days when I counted myself amongst the junior engineers. Now I am one of the ‘old timers’, and yes I do want to thank you all for the wonderful opportunity to learn, create, grow AND share.

But, like the old grandpa in the corner, I feel obliged to pass on some semblance of wisdom.

The benefit of a career is that we get multiple chances to apply the lessons that we learn. Make a mistake, stumble, fall, get back up and dust ourselves off. Through these experiences we gain wisdom. I could offer words about the importance of this or that, but in reality the best way to learn about the working world is via experience.

That said, life, life is a little different.

There will come a point when an enlightenment will strike, a satori of sorts. Each of us will realize that there lies more years behind us than ahead. How we absorb this reality will depend heavily on the absence of three phrases in our vernacular, “would have, “could have”, and “should have”. Each of these reflects regret and an absence of resolve.

20 years ago, a friend gifted me a copy of ‘365 Tao’. There is one entry that has stuck with me since:

RESOLVE

Banish uncertainty.

Affirm strength.

Hold resolve.

Expect death.

Make your stand today. On this spot. On this day. Make your actions

count; do not falter in your determination to fulfill your destiny.

Don’t follow the destiny outlined in some mystical book: Create your

own.

Your resolve to tread the path of life is your best asset. Without

it, you die. Death is unavoidable, but let it not be from loss of will

but because your time is over. As long as you can keep going, use your

imagination to cope with the travails of life. Overcome your obstacles

and realize what you envision.

You will know unexpected happiness. You will know the sorrow of

seeing what is dearest to you cut down before your eyes. Accept that.

That is the nature of human existence, and you have no time to buffer

this fact with fairy tales and illogical explanations.

Each day, your life grows shorter by twenty-four hours. The time to

make achievements becomes more precious. You must fulfill everything you

want in life and then release your will upon the moment of death. Your

life is a creation that dies when you die. Release it, give up your

individuality, and in so doing, finally merge completely with Tao.

Until that moment, create the poetry of your life with toughness and

determination.

365 Tao: Daily Meditations

Deng Ming-Dao

I am extremely proud to have worked with each and every one of you, a team that had the resolve to set the bar by which others are judged and see us become a household name in children’s entertainment and education.