Jill Konrath [58:19]: I got another question. How do you respond to the notion that choice is only an option for privilege? This is from Donal.
Tom Morris [58:26]: Oh, right.
Jill Konrath [58:27]: Choice is only for the privilege. What do you think?
Tom Morris [58:30]: I profiled a guy in my book If Aristotle Ran General Motors. He was the janitor in the faculty office building for the Humanities at Notre Dame. He was the only man in a building of 300 PhDs. He was the only man who was a high school dropout, and he pretty much had nothing except his ability to choose.
Victor Frankl's famous book Man search For Meaning. Victor Frankl was in a concentration camp in World War Two. He said, “They can take everything from you except your ability to choose.”
This janitor, Weldon Jeffries, called himself Brother Jeff. He would have read The New York Times before I got to work in the morning—and I got to work early. And he'd say, “Brother Tom. How are you doing today?” We'd start a conversation.
If I wanted my day to go well, I’d find Brother Jeff in that building. He could be vacuuming. He could be washing the window. We'd have a ten-minute conversation. A five-minute conversation that would make my day.
When any of those 300 PhDs had marital trouble, problems with the kids, a career disappointment that was heartbreaking, they would go talk to the one man in the building who seemed to have nothing.
But he had everything. He had a spirit. His job was not just to clean the floors, wash the windows. His job was to be a curator of souls. His job was to create conditions in which greatness can flourish.
And we can all choose to do that, regardless of the hardships we face. I've known so many people who, with so little it seemed to offer, were able to make such a huge difference in the lives of others.
Jill Konrath [1:00:04]: Okay, I'm going to ask a couple of quickies, and then we have to sign off because our hour is up. Tom, what's your opinion about money and becoming rich today? Society calls you a failure if you die poor.
Tom Morris [1:00:19]: Today’s society is pretty wrong about a lot of things—and that's one of them. What do you think, Jill?
Jill Konrath [1:00:24]: I agree. I mean, there's a lot of empty rich people out there. Empty rich people that don't have a purpose. And then there's a lot of poor people who have incredible purpose and are making a huge difference and spending all their time helping neighbors. I think society's definition is out of whack.
Tom Morris [01:00:42]: It is.
Jill Konrath [01:00:43]: It's out of whack. Richness and wealth are not the only thing in life. I think you go back to purpose. And having a purpose and making a difference in the world really makes a huge difference.
Tom Morris [01:00:57]: That's right. You have a rich life even if there's not much money in it—if it's rich friends, if it's rich with purpose, if it's rich with meaning, if it's rich with goodness.
And so, we need to pull our society back to what matters. And we can do it.
Jill Konrath [01:01:11]: We can do that. Yes, we can do that. Last question. This is really kind of a funny one. Do you believe MSNBC or CNN would have this discussion?
Tom Morris [01:01:20]: You know what? I have enough hope in my heart. I think we're at the bottom of Pandora's big jar, and I think it's about time for that, don't think?
Jill Konrath [01:01:28]: Absolutely. I think it's totally about time. Because again, I go back to the fact that there are so many things that we agree on.
And why are we stuck? We're stuck because the system keeps us stuck, and there's reinforcements in the system to keep us stuck. But we need to take our action as citizens of the world, of our communities, and do something to change things.
Tom Morris [01:01:50]: Absolutely right. And if people have questions that we didn't get to. You can email me at tomvmorris@aol.com, my oldest living email address, or visit www.Tomvmarris.com, my website. You can also email Jill.
We're happy to answer your questions tomorrow, the next day. This is not just a one and done. We want to be your partners for wisdom as time passes. Share with us your stories. Share with us your questions. You'll make us better thinkers and maybe we can help you as well.
Jill Konrath [01:02:20]: Exactly. I'm going to close with a comment from Marci. She says, “Healing is possible now. Thank you for inspiring us.” So, thank you, Tom Morris, for inspiring us. It's been wonderful. And thank you all for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Tom Morris [01:02:35]: Me too. Yeah.
Jill Konrath [01:02:37]: Bye, everyone. Bye.
