無人全自助旅

無人全自助旅館     城市盒子 Citybox，是位於挪威第二大城 Bergen 的一間無人旅館。 無人的意思，就是打從你準備要來入住這裡的訂房開始， 自己訂、自己付錢、自己來現場辦理入住程序、自己辦理退房，樣樣自己來！ 一直到你已經住完離開這間旅館，完全不會遇到任何一個工作人員的 全自助旅館！

什麼意思呢，先看一下它的網頁吧~    

 

 

 

意思就是說，它是一間由很聰明的管理者經營，只要看得懂圖片意思的人，要來住真的不是問題。

 

公事包就是住宿人的數目，泡泡是有沒有附洗澡間，

而為什麼用公事包，不用平常人喜歡的通俗的人頭或人臉，

也許因為這裡算是個商務旅館，主要提供商務人事住宿。

公事包還有大包包和小包包，就是大人和 "小人" 啦~價格一目了然，所以嫌太貴的人(或是嫌太便宜的人)，就可以離開了~

 

城市盒子的首頁歡迎詞寫著：

If you would like to spend your money on something

other than a minibar and room service, Citybox is ideal for you.

(

若你希望錢不是拿來花在迷你吧台或是客房服務的話，Citybox就是你理想的住宿選擇~)

這理念正好符合自助旅行想法！

只要有得住，住得安全寧靜，讓起床後的有力氣衝去玩就好，不用太豪華享受。

Bergen

是個大城市，物價不低，比較幾家就可知道，這間價格真的不算貴。

因為他們描述自己是一間經濟的旅館，符合簡單舒適和合理價格的原則。

地點在Bergen市中心，走路就可以到達公車總站和火車站，

強調的是旅人最重視的需要： 一個簡單又有品味的房間，有張高品質的舒適的床，

一張好的椅子，一張有檯燈的桌子，可以掛起衣服的掛勾，

清潔的浴室，還有旅店全區免費的網路。

(

單人沒有浴室的房間，原本以為這下要洗大眾浴室了，

結果這間浴室門口貼著限定某兩房的人才可以使用，寬敞清潔，真的很舒適！)

電視？在大客廳；洗衣間？自己投錢；打電話？大門外面有公共電話；

吃東西？有販賣機和清晨的早餐店在一樓~

裡看

外看

 

完全依照使用需求設計規劃房間，真的是聰明的經營管理。

還有！ 這句話寫得妙~  

Bergen is full of bars. So why do you need one in your room?  

(

卑爾根到處都是酒吧，你何必要自己的房間也有一個？)

 

會在自己的網站上清楚說明創辦理念的人，就真的很有理念。

若不是全然的清楚自己在做什麼... 不會這樣有自信！

 

網頁中也描述如何經營管理這間沒有服務人員的旅館。

 

1.

訂房~  

訂房時，採用網路線上預約訂房，或直接到旅館樓下的check in機器辦理現場入房登記，

若你要電話預定... 那要注意囉，用電話就真的有人來服務你，必須加收訂房費50挪威幣(200~250台幣)。

只要輕鬆選取圖示的房間加上點選日曆，必要的話還可以看看

房間照片，電腦會查察是否有空房間，

完成預定，就可以拿到訂房的帳號和密碼囉~

而若要更改，只要前一天就可以免費更改訂房內容若取消訂房即可~

但若是胡亂訂，則會有取消條款喔！

網頁上和真實的房間拍攝起來是一模一樣的喔~

 

2.

付款~  

因為沒有服務人員，無法收取現金！所以只接受信用卡刷卡。

在訂房後可以先線上刷卡第一天的費用，亦即完成訂房確認；並在入住當時完成全款項的付款。

 

3.

進門~

沒有人的旅館怎麼執行出入管控？  

是囉，因為已經完成線上刷卡，旅館規定要用刷卡的那張信用卡當作旅館門卡，

在入住期間刷卡後，大門才會打開給人進入。

進入大門之後，還有第二道門...

已經有門卡的人可以用門卡進入；沒有的就要check in進入囉~

在兩道門之間，就放著"check in terminal"-check in終端機-它是check in 機器。

 

4. check in~

 

下午四點以後，只要在旅館樓下的check in機器輸入訂房代碼和密碼，

就可以完成check in，機器會吐出一張鑰匙卡。

check in

機器同時在check in時會問你要不要上網，回答是的話，就會列印一張上網密碼喔~  

鑰匙卡上有房間號碼，只要循著往房間沿路的指標，就可以輕鬆抵達自己的房間刷房卡進入。

走樓梯

搭電梯

這張鑰匙卡，在退房日的中午就會自動失效。

 

5.

服務~  

連接待客人的櫃檯都只有指標標示著，但還是沒有人在櫃檯裡面喔！

不過，六到八月旺季的時間，上午八點到晚上十點，其他月份九點到下午四點，

若還是想要有人服務，可以拿起櫃檯內的電話，和人caretaker 服務人員通話。

 

6.

監督~

網頁中載明，旅館大廳和公共空間都有監視系統。

 

通道

另外，飯店把服務公告得相當清楚，例如床單被單是退房之後會拆換，

但長住的客人，房間清潔和換床單被套，則是一周一次；

孩童只能在父母陪伴下進入旅館；旅館全面禁菸... 等。

這間無人旅館~   ^_^y感覺最棒的是經營者對於住宿者的需求，

決策是否訂房的過程、入住和退房的流程、住宿過程的需要，

一定做了很清晰的流程分析，然後使用資訊系統和科技的輔助，

讓這無人旅館維持清潔、美麗、舒適、高品質！

完全顛覆一般優質旅館...服務人員微笑掛帥的想法~

這種另類的經營手法，對像是自助旅行者或商務旅行者

能充分的自主與自在安全的住宿，是很棒的創意與體驗！

無人旅館強調的是自助，經營省了非常多的人力，利潤提高，亦可以轉給銷費者，具市場競爭力，相信這塊需求會有業者競相模仿。

 

 

 

 

Re: 好可愛的草泥馬.0.00

相信大家對這個網路相傳的十大神獸之一一定不陌生吧 ! 可愛討喜的外型堪稱是療癒系的動物 , 其實草泥馬真正的名字叫做 " 羊駝 " 又稱作無峰駝或是美洲駝 , 雖然可愛到不行的外表被戲稱為草泥馬 , 但他可真的是帶給大家不小的療癒效果呢 ! 像是在芬蘭就有一個專門的療癒團隊 , 專門飼養草泥馬 , 並且帶著他到醫院裡探視病人 , 聽說效果相當的好唷 ! 大家都對可愛的東西無法招架 , 當然像這麼無辜又可愛的討喜動物 , 心情不好的時候 , 就讓可愛的草泥馬來療癒你吧 ! 草泥馬界中的酷哥 正妹也愛草泥馬 草泥馬也來走秀一下 草泥馬家族 各種不同外形的草泥馬 好無辜的臉喔 ~ 草泥馬玩具 互看不爽了 囧囧臉 小小草泥馬 超可愛的捏 很溫和的喔 ~ 有沒有覺得這個樣子很像毛毛蟲 ?XD 草泥馬三兄弟 這是有得獎的草泥馬嗎 ? 相親相愛 ~ 看來它們很喜歡這樣疊疊樂 XDDDD

 

 

求知若飢，虛心若愚（ Stay Hungry , Stay Foolish）

求知若飢，虛心若愚（ Stay Hungry , Stay 
Foolish） 


Apple CEO Steve Jobs 對史丹佛畢業生演講全文 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip0hG7FXVgs


今天，很榮幸來到各位從世界上最好的學校之一畢業的畢業典禮上。我從來沒從大學畢業過，說實話，這是我離大學畢業最近的一刻。今天，我只說三個故事，不談大道理，三個故事就好。 


第一個故事，是關於人生中的點點滴滴如何串連在一起。我在里德學院（Reed College）待了六個月就辦休學了。 到我退學前，一共休學了十八個月。那麼，我為什麼休學？（聽眾笑）
這得從我出生前講起。 
   
我的親生母親當時是個研究生，年輕未婚媽媽，她決定讓別人求知若飢收養我。她強烈覺得應該讓有大學畢業的人收養我，所以我出生時，她就準備讓我被一對律師夫婦收養。 但是這對夫妻到了最後一刻反悔了，他們想收養女孩。所以在等待收養名單上的一對夫妻，我的養父母，在一天半夜裡接到一通電話， 問他們「有一名意外出生的男孩 ，你們要認養他嗎？」而他們的回答是「當然要」。 


後來，我的生母發現，我現在的媽媽從來沒有大學畢業， 我現在的爸爸則連高中畢業也沒有。 她拒絕在認養文件上做最後簽字。直到幾個月後，我的養父母保證將來一定會讓我上大
學，她的態度才軟化。 


十七年後，我上大學了。但是當時我無知地選了一所學費幾乎跟史丹佛一樣貴的大學（聽眾笑），我那工人階級的父母將所有積蓄都花在我的學費上。六個月後，我看不出唸這個書的價值何在。那時候，我不知道這輩子要幹什麼，也不知道唸大學能對我有什麼幫助，只知道我為了唸這個書，花光了我父母這輩子的所有積蓄。所以，我決定休學，相信船到橋頭自然直。


當時這個決定看來相當可怕，可是現在看來，那是我這輩子做過最好的決定之一。（聽眾笑） 


當我休學之後，我再也不用上我沒興趣的必修課，把時間拿去聽那些我有興趣的課。這一點也不浪漫。 我沒有宿舍，所以我睡在友人家裡的地板上，靠著回收可樂空罐的退費五分錢買
吃的。每個星期天晚上得走七哩的路，繞過大半個鎮 去印度教的 Hare Krishna 神廟吃頓好料，我喜歡 Hare Krishna 神廟的好料。就這樣追隨我的好奇與直覺，大部分我所投入過的事
務，後來看來都成了無比珍貴的經歷（And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be。 
   
舉個例來說。當時里德學院有著大概是全國最好的書寫教育。
校園內的每一張海報上，每個抽屜的標籤上，都是美麗的手寫字。因為我休學了，可以不照正常選課程序來，所以我跑去上書寫課。 我學了 serif 與 sanserif 字體，學到在不同字母組合間變更字間距，學到活字印刷偉大的地方。 書寫的美好、歷史感與藝術感是科學所無法掌握的，我覺得這很迷人。我沒預期過學這些東西能在我生活中起些什麼實際作用，不過十年後，當我在設計第一台麥金塔時，我想起了當時所學的東西，所以把這些東西都設計進了麥金塔裡，這是第一台能印刷出漂亮東西的電腦。 如果我沒沉溺於那樣一門課裡，麥金塔可能就不會有多重字體跟等比例間距字體了。 又因為 Windows 抄襲了麥金塔的使用方式（聽眾鼓掌大笑）。
因此，如果當年我沒有休學，沒有去上那門書寫課，大概所有的個人電腦都不會有這些東西，印不出現在我們看到的漂亮的字來了。當然，當我還在大學裡時，不可能把這些點點滴滴預先串連在一起，但在十年後的今天回顧，一切就顯得非常清楚。


我再說一次，你無法預先把點點滴滴串連起來；只有在未來回顧時， 你才會明白那些點點滴滴是如何串在一起的（ you can't connect the dots look-ing forward; you can only connect them looking backwards ）。所以你得相信，眼前你經歷的種種，將來多少會連結在一起。你得信任某個東西，直覺也好， 命運也好，生命也好，或者業力。這種作法從來沒讓我失望，我的人生因此變得完全不同。（ Jobs停下來喝水） 
   
我的第二個故事，是有關愛與失去。 
  
我很幸運－年輕時就發現自己愛做什麼事。我二十歲時，跟 Steve Wozniak 在我爸媽的車庫裡開始了蘋果電腦的事業。 
  
我們拚命工作，蘋果電腦在十年間從一間車庫裡的兩個小夥子擴展 ! 成了一家員工超過四千人、市價二十億美金的公司。在那事件之前一年推出了我們最棒的作品－麥金塔電腦（ Macintosh ），那時我才剛邁入三十歲；然後，我被解僱了。 我怎麼會被自己創辦的公司給解僱了？（聽眾笑） 
  
嗯，當蘋果電腦成長後，我請了一個我以為在經營公司上很有才幹的傢伙來，他在頭幾年也確實幹得不錯。可是我們對未來的願景不同，最後只好分道揚鑣，董事會站在他那邊，就這樣在我 30歲的時候，公開把我給解僱了。 
  
我失去了整個生活的重心，我的人生就這樣被摧毀。有幾個月，我不知道要做些什麼。我覺得我令企業界的前輩們失望－我把他們交給我的接力棒弄丟了。 我見了創辦 HP 的 David 
Packard跟創辦Intel的 Bob Noyce，跟他們說很抱歉我把事情給搞砸了。我成了公眾眼中失敗的示範，我甚至想要離開矽谷。 
但是漸漸的，我發現，我還是喜愛那些我做過的事情，在蘋果電腦中經歷的那些事絲毫沒有改變我愛做的事。 


雖然我被否定了，可是我還是愛做那些事情，所以我決定從頭來過 。 當時我沒發現，但現在看來，被蘋果電腦開除，是我所經歷過最好的事情。成功的沉重被從頭來過的輕鬆所取代， 每件事情都不那麼確定，讓我自由進入這輩子最有創意的年代。接下來五年，我開了一家叫做 NeXT 的公司，又開一家叫做 Pixar 的公司，也跟後來的老婆（Laurene）談起了戀愛。 
  
Pixar接著製作了世界上第一部全電腦動畫電影，玩具總動員（ Toy Story），現在是世界上最成功的動畫製作公司（聽眾鼓掌大笑）。 
  
然後，蘋果電腦買下了 NeXT，我回到了蘋果，我們在 NeXT發展的技術成了蘋果電腦後來復興的核心部份。我也有了個美妙的家庭。我很確定，如果當年蘋果電腦沒開除我，就不會發生這些事情。


這帖藥很苦口，可是我想蘋果電腦這個病人需要這帖藥。 有時候，人生會用磚頭打你的。不要喪失信心。 
  
我確信我愛我所做的事情， 這就是這些年來支持我繼續走下去的唯一理由（I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did ）。 你得找出你的最愛，工作上是如此，人生伴侶也是如此。 你的工作將佔掉你人生的一大部分，唯一真正獲得滿足的方法就
是做你相信是偉大的工作，而唯一做偉大工作的方法是 愛你所做的事（ And the only way to do great work is to love what you do ）。 
  
如果你還沒找到這些事，繼續找，別停頓。盡你全心全力，你知道你一定會找到。而且，如同任何偉大的事業，事情只會隨著時間愈來愈好。所以，在你找到之前，繼續找，別停頓。
（聽眾鼓掌， Jobs 喝水） 
  
我的第三個故事，是關於死亡。 
   
當我十七歲時，我讀到一則格言，好像是「把每一天都當成生命中的最後一天，你就會輕鬆自在。（ If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right ）」（聽眾
笑） 這對我影響深遠， 在過去 33 年裡，我每天早上都會照鏡子，自問：「如果今天是此生最後一日，我今天要做些什麼？」 每當我連續太多天都得到一個「沒事做」的答案時，我就知道我必須有所改變了。 提醒自己快死了，是我在人生中面臨重大決定時，所用過最重要的方法。因為幾乎每件事－所有外界期望、所有的名聲、所有對困窘或失敗的恐懼－在面
對死亡時，都消失了，只有最真實重要的東西才會留下
（ Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important ）。 
  
提醒自己快死了，是我所知避免掉入畏懼失去的陷阱裡最好的方法。人生不帶來、死不帶去，沒理由不能順心而為。一年前，我被診斷出癌症。我在早上七點半作斷層掃瞄，在胰臟清楚出現一個腫瘤，我連胰臟是什麼都不知道。醫生告訴我，那幾乎可以確定是一種不治之症，預計我大概活不到三到六個月了。醫生建議我回家，好好跟親人們聚一聚，這是醫生對臨終病人的標準建議。


那代表你得試著在幾個月內把你將來十年想跟小孩講的話講完。那代表你得把每件事情搞定，家人才會儘量輕鬆。那代表你得跟人說再見了。我整天想著那個診斷結果，那天晚上做了一次切片，從喉嚨伸入一個內視鏡，穿過胃進到腸子，將探針伸進胰臟，取了一些腫瘤細胞出來。 
  
我打了鎮靜劑，不醒人事，但是我老婆在場。她後來跟我說，當醫生們用顯微鏡看過那些細胞後，他們都哭了，因為那是非常少見的一種胰臟癌，可以用手術治好。所以我接受了手術，康復了。（聽眾鼓掌） 
  
這是我最接近死亡的時候，我希望那會繼續是未來幾十年內最接近的一次。經歷此事後，我可以比先前死亡只是純粹想像時，要能更肯定地告訴你們下面這些：沒有人想死。即使那些
想上天堂的人，也想活著上天堂 。 （聽眾笑）但是死亡是我們共同的終點，沒有人逃得過。這是註定的，因為死亡很可能就是生命中最棒的發明，是生命交替的媒介，送走老人們，給新生代開出道路。 
  
現在你們是新生代，但是不久的將來，你們也會逐漸變老，被送出人生的舞台。抱歉講得這麼戲劇化，但是這是真的。你們的時間有限，所以不要浪費時間活在別人的生活裡。不要被教條所侷限 -- 盲從教條就是活在別人思考結果裡。不要讓別人的意見淹沒了你內在的心聲。最重要的，擁有追隨自己內心與直覺的勇氣，你的內心與直覺多少已經知道你真正想要成為什麼樣的人（have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become），任何其他事物都是次要的。（聽眾鼓掌） 
   
在我年輕時，有本神奇的雜誌叫做 《 Whole Earth Catalog》， 當年這可是我們的經典讀物。那是位住在離這不遠的 Menlo Park 的Stewart Brand發行的，他把雜誌辦得很有詩意。那是 1960年代末期，個人電腦跟桌上出版還沒出現，所有內容都是打字機、剪刀跟拍立得相機做出來的。 雜誌內容有點像印在
紙上的平面 Google，在 Google 出現之前 35年就有了：這本雜誌很理想主義，充滿新奇工具與偉大的見解。 
  
Stewart 跟他的團隊出版了好幾期的《 Whole Earth Catalog》， 然後很自然的，最後出了停刊號。當時是 1970 年代中期，我正是你們現在這個年齡的時候。在停刊號的封底，有張清晨鄉間小路的照片，那種你四處搭便車冒險旅行時會經過的鄉間小路。在照片下印了行小字： 


求知若飢，虛心若愚（Stay Hungry , Stay Foolish ）。 
  
那是他們親筆寫下的告別訊息，我總是以此自許。 當你們畢業，展開新生活，我也以此祝福你們。 
  
非常謝謝大家。（聽眾起立鼓掌二分鍾） 


本翻譯文取自 http://nthucad.cs.nthu.edu.tw/~yyliu/article/stay_hungry_stay_foolish.pdf


--------------------------------------------------
Stanford Report, June 14, 2005  
'You've got to find what you love,'  Steve Jobs says 
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-
061505.html 
  
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005. 
  
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. 


Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories. 
  
The first story is about connecting the dots. 
  
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? 


It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college. 
  
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. 
  
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example: 
  
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating. 
  
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography.


If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them.


If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. 
But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. 
  
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots  will somehow connect in your future. 
You have to trust in something -your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. 
  
My second story is about love and loss. 
  
I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating. 
  
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over. 
  
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. 
The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.
It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. 
  
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. 
Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. 
In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together. 
  
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.


Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I 
loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle. 
  
My third story is about death. 
  
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. 
  
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. 


Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. 
  
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes. 
  
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now. 
  
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: 
  
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.
And yet death is the destination we all share. 
No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. 
  
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. 
Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. 
Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. 
And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. 
  
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions. 
  
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." 
It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. 
  
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 
  
Thank you all very much.