Plant a tree, write a book, and raise a child.

Plant a tree, write a book, and raise a child.

Mr. Suarez: If you want to leave a mark in this world you need to do at least three things: plant a tree, write a book and raise a child before you leave this earth.  Those were the words of one of my best teachers in high school, Juan de Dios Vezga, my teacher of chemistry, biology and anatomy in high school.  And those words, pronounced in a solemn and authoritative tone, still ring in my ears.   Do they mean anything to you?  That stern directive, heard over 40 years ago has guided my life and continues to haunt me.  And today I want to share with you how I have interpreted it and how I have heeded that advice.

Those may not have been his own words.  Some have attributed that advice to Picasso, others to Jose Marti, the great Cuban poet and independence fighter.  Others trace the words to the Talmud.  As with most of wisdom statements, there is probably a long and old history of adaptations and interpretations.  But for now the important thing should be what those words mean and how we can interpret them.

1. Plant a tree.

This advice talks, at least to me, about my duty to recognize how important and how beautiful the environment that surrounds me, and nature is, and about my duty to contribute to improving it for future generations.  You do that by planting a tree and caring for it.  And as we modernize and create more ways to threaten the sustainability and availability of natural resources we must go beyond planting trees… we must look at ways to diminish climate change, water pollution and reduce air contamination.   I planted my own tree.  When my wife and I got married in Austin, Texas we planted a small oak sapling.  It was a hard effort, digging a hole in the rocky, dry ground.  Perhaps a premonition sign of the marriage life difficulties ahead.  Perhaps not a premonition but an admonition.  Today over 30 years later I am glad to report that the oak tree sampling is now a big, strong tree that provides shade and nice green foliage year around.  And our marriage is still thriving.

2. Write a book.

Our civilization has advanced thanks to the increase and transfer of knowledge and experiences from one generation to the next.  Everyone can contribute and everyone needs to. 

It is our duty to document and transfer the knowledge that will help the next generation have a better life.  We don’t want them to have to reinvent the wheel, do we?

I have written several articles, some with opinions, others with more sound statements about engineering or business.  One of them made it into a book, and recently I actually published a short book on the Kindle store.

I think I still have more work to do in this area. 

3. Raise a child.

The first thing that my teacher said regarding this advice was that it didn’t have to be a biological child.   The child represents the effort of helping a person –your child- grow both physically and emotionally.  You can shape his or her views, influence his/her behavior and pass your values, hopes and dreams to your child.

We want to live forever, we want to make sure that our memory and our contributions are remembered.  Having a child, having someone who shares your ideas will extend your presence and your influence in this world for many more generations after you are gone.

I have two children.  Quite frankly I get a lot of satisfaction in those occasions when I observe their behavior and response to situations and I can see that they are reflecting or mirroring my behavior or acting according to the teachings that I have attempted to pass on.

If we feel that we have accomplished all three components of my teacher’s advice: plant a tree, write a book, raise a child, it doesn’t mean that we are done.   My teacher also taught me about the phoenix in Greek mythology: we need to rise from the ashes of our old person and start enjoying a new life every day.