Those who came before us cleared the easy paths we now walk, solved problems we no longer have to face, ate hardtack and salt pork so we can snap photos of our brunch. We live with the tailwind of their accumulated knowledge, sacrifice, and effort.
Just as we should honor our ancestors, we should be grateful for the giants who worked for our betterment. But beyond “standing on the shoulders of giants [and ancestors],” you should live as if your giants and ancestors are watching over your shoulder.
This isn’t about feeling the judgmental stare of long-dead people burning through time. Don’t pressure yourself to live under the weight of others’ expectations. Just choose the giants (or the parts of them) you want living in your head for good reason. Their invisible presence can guide you and challenge you to aim higher.
Find people with characteristics you want to emulate, and live as if they can see your actions. Giants can be:
- The mentor who saw or supported your potential before you did.
- The grandparent who maintained quiet dignity in the face of hardship.
- The historical figure who brought something new to this world, despite every naysayer.
- The teacher who saw through your bullshit and demanded better.
- The fictional character whose unwavering moral compass helps you navigate ethical dilemmas.
- The ancestor who crossed oceans and lived hard so you could have opportunities they never did.
A funny thing is, in biography after biography, you’ll notice that giants often lived in dialogue with other giants, both real and imagined. Thoughts inspired by Plato and Aristotle littered Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, blurring the lines between art and science. Einstein admired interdisciplinary thinkers like da Vinci and kept a portrait of Isaac Newton on his wall, honoring the man who gave us the very laws Einstein himself built upon. And Newton? He’s the one who humbly admitted, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
While we’ll never reach the intellectual stature of some giants, remember that, especially if you’re a parent, you may be someone’s giant. Try to build something worth standing on.