People climbing that first mountain spend a lot of time thinking about reputation management. On the first mountain, we all have to perform certain life tasks: establish an identity, separate from our parents, cultivate our talents, build a secure ego, and try to make a mark in the world. They got out of school, began their career or started a family, and identified the mountain they thought they were meant to climb: I’m going to be a cop, a doctor, an entrepreneur, what have you. I often find that their life has what I think of as a two-mountain shape. There are temporary highs we all get after we win some victory, and then there is also this other kind of permanent joy that animates people who are not obsessed with themselves but have given themselves away. When you meet these people, you realize that joy is not just a feeling, it can be an outlook. They are interested in you, make you feel cherished and known, and take delight in your good. But they have a serenity about them, a settled resolve. They know why they were put on this earth and derive a deep satisfaction from doing what they have been called to do. They’ve made unshakable commitments to family, a cause, a community, or a faith. But they live for others, and not for themselves. They are kind, tranquil, delighted by small pleasures, and grateful for the large ones. These are people who seem to glow with an inner light. In The Second Mountain, Brooks shows what can happen when we put commitment-making at the center of our lives.Įvery once in a while, I meet a person who radiates joy. The path to repair is through making deeper commitments. We have taken individualism to the extreme-and in the process we have torn the social fabric in a thousand different ways. We live in a society, Brooks argues, that celebrates freedom, that tells us to be true to ourselves, at the expense of surrendering to a cause, rooting ourselves in a neighborhood, binding ourselves to others by social solidarity and love. But it’s also a provocative social commentary. In short, this book is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose. Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity and beauty of dependence. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. In The Second Mountain, David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. They embrace a life of interdependence, not independence. They want the things that are truly worth wanting, not the things other people tell them to want. On the second mountain, life moves from self-centered to other-centered. There’s another, bigger mountain out there that is actually my mountain. They realize: This wasn’t my mountain after all. But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. Their goals on this first mountain are the ones our culture endorses: to be a success, to make your mark, to experience personal happiness. They get out of school, they start a career, and they begin climbing the mountain they thought they were meant to climb. Life, for these people, has often followed what we might think of as a two-mountain shape. “Deeply moving, frequently eloquent and extraordinarily incisive.”- The Washington Post Every so often, you meet people who radiate joy-who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. Everybody tells you to live for a cause larger than yourself, but how exactly do you do it? The author of The Road to Character explores what it takes to lead a meaningful life in a self-centered world.
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