Live by what your obituary is going to say

I love sharing stories of inspirational people. Here’s one for you that’s especially timely with the upcoming holidays.

Warren Buffett has an awful lot to be thankful for this year. Not only is he 95-years-old and worth $130 billion, but when he talks, people listen — and he has the wit, wisdom, humor and humility that you just wouldn’t expect from such a powerfully successful human being.

In a recent news release, Buffett shares his final Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter as CEO — a fascinating read, (even for those like me who don’t follow anything to do with numerals or investment gurus).

In his eight-page letter, he discusses the distribution of his shares, reminisces over his long life and gives credit to a handful of people who “greatly influenced” his life.

I love the idea of taking time to acknowledge, in printed form, those who’ve made significant imprints on your life. I’m going to try to do this before I’m 95.

Buffett drew me into his letter immediately with a hilarious story from his youth. He recalls getting admitted into a Catholic hospital for an emergency appendectomy, and while there receives a gift from his aunt to cheer him up: a fingerprinting set.

“I promptly fingerprinted all of my attending nuns. My theory — totally nutty, of course — was that someday a nun would go bad and the FBI would find that they had neglected to fingerprint nuns. I further fantasized that J. Edgar Hoover (the FBI’s director) and I would quickly identify and apprehend the wayward nun. National fame seemed certain.”

An imagination like this definitely destined him for greatness. But little did he know, it would have absolutely nothing to do with nuns, and everything to do with his exceptional entrepreneurial instincts.

As a child, Buffett sold gum, soda and newspapers. By age 11 he invested in his first stock — and learned about patience when it rose after he sold it too early.

Later, he attended business school and bought Berkshire Hathaway, which at the time was a struggling textile company. He transformed it into a holding company that owns or invests in dozens of other businesses — GEICO, See’s Candies, Coca-Cola, Apple and many others..

Long story short, Buffet becomes wildly wealthy while skillfully managing to keep his head from over-inflating. And now, with “Father time in the Neighborhood,” he reflects back on his life and how lucky he’s been to be living in America.

It’s time, he says, to distribute his wealth — pledging to give away 99 percent of it to charitable causes including his own children’s foundations.

But here are my favorite parts — the real human ones, like when Buffett speaks of his three children:

“If my children simply do a decent job, they can be certain that their mother and I would be pleased.” He also remarked that he doesn’t like “look-at-me wealth.”

In his final thoughts, he offers many sincere, solid pieces of advice: “Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes — learn at least a little from them and move on. It’s never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and emulate them.”

He also writes: “Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it. Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, publicity or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is costless, but also priceless. Whether you are religious or not, it’s hard to beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior.”

And finally, “I write this as one who has been thoughtless, countless times and made many mistakes, but also became very lucky and learned from some wonderful friends how to behave better. Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman. I wish all who read this a very happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the jerks; it’s never too late to change. Remember to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.”

So there you have it. A legendary investor reminding us that gratitude, humility and kindness are the richest returns of them all.

I hope I’ve given you some good words to live by, and that you’ll take them warmly to heart.

As we head into the holidays, I’ll be working on living what I want my obituary to say — and I hope you’ll join me in doing the same!

Jessica Varney is a single mom who lives in Mariposa County and is cofounder of the local group Widows/Widowers in Need (W.I.N.). She is also a lover of everything about life — and chocolate. She can be reached at jlajoie79@sbcglobal.net.