This week, I was listening to a conversation with Michelle Obama, and she shared a moment that made me think.
She described the time her mother was close to the end of her life. And in that moment, her mother said, “This went by fast.”
Michelle asked, “What did?”
Her mother said, “Life.”
Even she felt it went by quickly after living an incredible life. And she said it with peace, not regret. That hit me deeply.
It made me want to pause. So I went through my photos over the years. And it put a real smile on my face.
Here’s what I noticed: around my birthday, I usually feel this immense pressure. The weight of getting older, of goals I haven’t reached, of time passing. There’s a quiet shame that comes with that.
But this time, something shifted. When I changed how I looked at things, I stopped measuring what I hadn’t done and started seeing everything I had actually lived. The moments that were never on any goal list. The things that happened anyway, and mattered.
And I smiled.
It might seem morbid to think about death. But thinking about death makes you think about life, really think about it.
A life that feels like it went by fast is a life worth living every single day.
So take time for gratitude. Spend your time with people who care about you, and who you care about.
Make your life worth living.
What I’m Reading
Grit — Angela Duckworth (Finishing)
This one really stays with you. It breaks down the idea that success isn’t just about talent; it’s about consistency, resilience, and showing up even when it’s hard. What I’ve been reflecting on most is how grit isn’t always loud.
Caste — Isabel Wilkerson (Starting)
Starting this next. It dives into the hidden structures that shape inequality across societies, beyond race or class alone. I’m curious to see how it reframes the way we think about systems, identity, and power, and what it reveals about the world we move through every day.
What Else Dropped This Week
Off Script
How Melissa Built a Beauty Brand for the People the Industry Overlooked
Under the Hood
The Quiet Profit Machine: How Store Brands Are Reshaping Retail
On My Reading Desk
Shoe brand once worth $4B closes all stores, avoids bankruptcy
The secret to mastering AI is getting the division of labor right
Note to My Future Self
Look at the photos. Look at the moments that never made it onto any goal list, yet there they are. That is your life. And it is more than you gave yourself credit for.
That’s what you want. A life that moves. A life that, when you look back, makes you smile without even trying.
So on the days the pressure creeps in, come back to the photos. Come back to the people. Come back to the moments that weren’t planned but happened anyway.
Those moments are not detours. They are the life.
You are not behind. You are exactly where you are supposed to be.
Be bold. Be real. Be Anomalous.
— Sai Menon