Reflections The Optimists Died First
In the Hanoi Hilton, the prisoners who didn't survive weren't the pessimists. They were the ones who picked a release date and couldn't survive it passing.
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Reflections 
Reflections Gary Larson Quit at the Top, on Purpose
Fifteen years into The Far Side, at the peak of its fame, Gary Larson wrote his readers a letter and walked away — before the thing he loved started running on fumes.
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Reflections David Foster Wallace and the Water You Can't See
Two young fish are asked by an older fish how the water is. They swim on, then ask each other, 'What the hell is water?' The point isn't that fish are dumb. The point is that the most obvious, all-encompassing thing is the hardest thing to see.
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Reflections Anne Lamott's Brother and the Bird Report Nobody Could Finish
Her ten-year-old brother had three months to write a school report on birds and waited until the night before, paralyzed at the kitchen table. Their father sat down next to him and gave him the only instruction that's ever actually worked.
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Reflections Suzuki and the Beginner's Advantage
A Zen teacher told his American students that the beginner has it better than the expert. Not as encouragement — as an actual claim about how minds get stuck.
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Reflections What You Protect Determines What You Build
Attention is not infinite. Whatever you let into it is shaping you, whether or not you invited it.
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Reflections The Buddha's Two Arrows
The Buddha asked his students a strange question: when you're hit by an arrow, does it hurt? Then he asked what happens when a second arrow hits the exact same spot.
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Reflections The Thing You Keep Checking Is Costing You
Every interruption costs more than the moment it takes — and the check that felt urgent never was.
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Reflections The Admiral Who Started with the Bed
William McRaven gave a commencement speech about making your bed. It became one of the most-watched speeches in history. There is a reason it landed.
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Reflections Awe Is Not a Reward — It's a Reset
Research on wonder says the feeling that makes you forget your problems isn't wasted time. It is the most efficient thing you can do.
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