Robert Hargrove

I bought a copy of Henry Kissinger's "The White House Years" over thirty years ago. It remained totally unopened until last Sunday morning when I was searching for something to read in my house in Ogunquit, Maine. Two minutes later, I had a powerful "aha" experience.

Kissinger was philosophizing that, when you are young, you have many new experiences so awe inspiring that time almost stands still. For example, the first time you behold a natural wonder, the first time you dance with a girl at a party, the first time you fly in a jet plane, stay in a swank hotel, or get a promotion or raise in pay.

However, at some point, the delight you take in each new experience is suddenly displaced by the comfort of familiarity, a progression of interchangeable experiences from the past. As the expression goes, "been there, done that." Kissinger was describing that his life, though progressing rapidly from Harvard professor, to NSC adviser, to Secretary of State, followed this same hum-drum pattern.

Then one day, he found himself flying from Pakistan across the Himalayas on his way to meet Mao and Chou Enlai, a visit that would open China to the West and visa versa. At that moment, Kissinger had another one of those awe inspiring new experiences where time stands still and he felt as if he was reborn.

I think Kissinger's story speaks for millions of successful people of yesterday, today, and tomorrow who have been there, done that. One point we might all take from his story is that the kind of soul-stirring experiences, like Kissinger's flight across the Himalayas on a mission to change the world, don't just happen, we have to make them happen.