People often ask me if I could dine with anybody, who would it be. Being a philosophical psychologist who considers herself spiritual, I would naturally pick people like Sigmund and Anna Freud, Carl Jung, Jesus Christ, and Desmond Tutu. Yet, among my top choices would be David Brooks, the opinion writer for the New York Times. My favorite TV show is Friday’s version of the PBS news hour because of the political commentary between Mark Shields (a democratic syndicated columnist) and David Brooks (a republican). Using their quick wits and powerful intellects, they are always respectful of one another’s views and, in fact, often agree with one another. Only if Congress could follow suit!
Politically, David Brook’s is a republican moderate, while I consider myself a moderate democrat. Although we often don’t vote for the same candidates, we are close on the political spectrum. I am an avid reader of both his columns and his books, not necessarily because of his political ideology, but because of his humility and his ongoing search for meaning in his own life. He thinks deeply, purposefully, and philosophically about the importance of morality and integrity in today’s world.
I recently read David Brook’s book, Road to Character and gave it five stars!! Brooks presented his belief that there are two phases in our lifetime; the first he labels as Adam 1, where each of us cultivates our strengths as we strive to be successful in the world, while the second is Adam II when we journey into our inner life as we work toward developing our character. Brooks believes that Americans have become increasingly more self-centered and use others to enhance their success, which leads to hubris and selfishness. These aforementioned folks often fail to venture into the Adam II phase of humility, sacrifice, and transcendence. Brooks give ten poignant examples of heroes (such as Dwight Eisenhower, George Elliott, St. Augustine, George Marshall, Samuel Johnson) who led their lives through both of these phases and with humility, were ultimately successful in living a life beyond their egos and making the world a better place.
In my book, Searching for Barton Carter, the protagonist, my uncle, Barton Carter is an example of someone who evolved into the Adam II phase. He was the golden boy from a wealthy family with a successful future laid out before him. Yet he chose to risk his life by going to Spain to help the refugees and orphaned children in the midst of that country’s civil war. Before his untimely death at the age of twenty-three, he had saved 5,000 Spanish children’s lives and spearheaded the Plan Organization that today is enriching the lives of children in fifty different third world countries.
We need to ponder our lives and learn how we can enrich those around us. Life is a gift and we should move beyond our egos and use our strengths to make a difference in the world. In fact, when we act with humility, sacrifice, and virtue, we encounter a much deeper happiness and contentment within ourselves.
We all plan our lives in our Adam I phase, when we discover and enhance our strengths, which we implement in order to succeed in life. Yet, as we live our lives, make mistakes, plot new journeys, and learn how our skills meet the needs of the world, we can finally free ourselves from our egos. At that juncture, we are embedded in the Adam II phase of our lives, where we can discover our true purpose and dedicate ourselves to a cause far greater than we are.
