Will DelVerne

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

Very well said

[Marc Andreessen 🇺🇸 @pmarca]

Many people are saying.

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

Great read

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

WARNING: Longer post (but worth reading or bookmarking for later).

Your life has seasons.

Each one is unique. Characterized by its own distinct desires, struggles, opportunities, and identity.

But one reflection I've had recently is just how easy it is to completely disassociate with the present season.

To give all your time and energy toward a longing for some nostalgic memory of a prior season or an anticipation for some beautiful state of a future season.

You look back at the past and all you see is sunshine. Because it all worked out. You forget (or glaze over) the struggle you endured. You're here today. You made it. You're alive. You're doing fine.

You look forward at the future and dream on what could be. You'll have so much more. More freedom. More purpose. More health. More deep connection. More everything.

The past is beautiful and the future feels limitless. So, logically, you slowly start to treat everything about the present as the bridge. A dash connecting your past and your future. A gap to be crossed as quickly as possible.

Everything you do today is in anticipation of some eventual end state.

I'm doing this now, so that I can have that later.

Unfortunately, the danger of that dissociation with the present is significant. You may spend your entire life living for a future that has a decidedly mirage-like property. You inch closer, but when it's right in front of you, it disappears and reappears on the horizon.

You may spend your entire life skipping through the present, deferring your presence, your joy, and your very humanity to a future that never comes.

In a classic French fable, a young boy is gifted with a magic ball of golden thread. He's told that if he simply pulls on the thread, time will leap forward. The catch, of course, is that once it's pulled, it can never be put back.

The young boy takes advantage of the newfound powers. Each time he's faced with a boring day at school, a frustrating set of chores, or a scolding from his parents, he pulls the thread, skipping through to the good parts.

As an adult, he continues, leaping through mundane struggles in his marriage, the friction of having a newborn, and the boredom at work. He finds himself pulling on the thread more and more, avoiding even the most minor inconveniences of his life.

But when he wakes up one day and sees an old man looking back at him in the mirror, he's filled with regret. He realizes in that moment that as he chose to skip through the boredom, struggles, and friction, so too did he miss the real texture of being alive.

How often do we all do the same? How easily do we default into this disassociation? Disconnecting from the present in anticipation of some future.

A mentor recently asked me this:

"Where are you going and why are you in such a rush?"

It hit me hard.

And to be honest, I haven't stopped replaying those words since he said them.

Why are you in such a rush?

The world wants you to rush into everything. Rushed decisions. Rushed conversations. Rushed relationships. Rushed timelines.

In doing so, you slowly relinquish your agency. You give up your claim on your own life. Surrender authorship to a pen that was never even yours.

In a world that wants you to rush, the ultimate act of rebellion is presence.

Be in the season you're in. Don't romanticize the past, don't fantasize the future. Be here. Be now. Be in this. All of its texture, depth, and struggle. All of its joy, tension, and pain. Sit with the uncertainty. Become friends with it. Fall in love with it.

Because every single thing you do today is something your younger self dreamed of and something your older self will wish they could go back and do.

The good old days are happening, right now.

And the next time you find yourself skipping through the present, remember these words:

Where are you going and why are you in such a rush?

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

I agree - never have I felt this way until this Fourth of July

[Gad Saad @GadSaad]

Do you know why I'm pissed off on this July 4th? Because I'm seeing the greatest country in the history of the world increasingly bathing in the infinity pool of parasitic suicidal empathy (as has occurred with much of the West). PLEASE activate your inner honey badger and defend American freedom. Do not take American Exceptionalism for granted. Fight! Fight! Fight!

[Ray Dalio @RayDalio]

I love everything about the 4th of July, and the 250th anniversary is especially great for me because I am joining with family and friends for a reading of the Declaration of Independence, a BBQ, and fireworks.

As I reflect on what has happened over the 250 years that followed July 4th, 1776, it seems like an impossible dream come true. Think about it. Imagine that at the outset on July 4th, 1776, you were asked what odds for success a country would have if it would be mostly made up of poor immigrants coming from all different countries with very different cultures and religions and it would be governed by a political system in which the leaders reported to these people who themselves had to vote, compromise, and submit to life-changing decisions that many disagreed with. Would you bet that it would do exceptionally well and improve for 250 years? I would have thought that virtually impossible, yet America has been exceptional for 250 years.

I also see that it was shockingly terrific and lucky for me to have lived through the best part of those 250 years because I was born four years after the 1945 post-World War II beginning of the new American world order, which gave me the best time in history in the best place in the world.

These reflections give me a deep appreciation for the principles and practices—the secret sauce—that created and sustained this remarkable American story, a fear that we are losing sight of them, and a sense of responsibility to contribute to sustaining them.

[MrBeast @MrBeast]

Happy Birthday America!

If I was born in any other country I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wasn’t born into wealth. I shouldn’t be MrBeast. This country gave me the freedom to chase my dreams and mindset that I can achieve anything. America isn’t perfect but dam I love her 🇺🇸

[Prompter @PromptLLM]

Crazy take from Claude

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

Need @chase_tish to do this for the Scottish lads

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

Messi Messi Messi

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

@mmaonpoint I’d imagine those punches to feel like a truck just hit you at 80 MPH

[Faisal @faisalkawar]

Iconic @NewYorker

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

Beast

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

immersing yourself in a setting with other individuals (the human to human component) and hearing multiple perspectives + viewpoints is the point of university. LLMs cannot solely replace that. social interactions are far more valuable than grinding it out on an LLM. infinite knowledge and AI is incredible but majority benefit from immersion in an academic setting. I see the two going hand-in-hand.

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

@Inostranno @veefriends @Topps @VeeFriendsCards @garyvee 💪🏻

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

@Amonahan That’s amazing

[Patrick Bet-David @patrickbetdavid]

Loose lips can sink a great ship. Protect who has influence over your and your inner circle.

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

@SahilBloom You forgot “Wild Roman” - I did just order the facial set so will keep you posted how it goes 💪🏻

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

Yes

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

“In order to be successful, you have to make sure that being rejected doesn't bother you at all.”

— Bill Ackman

[Will DelVerne @DelverneWill]

@FearedBuck Interesting how the journalist matches the tone and mirrors him

[USA TODAY Sports @usatodaysports]

Exclusive: Pat Fitzgerald opens up to USA TODAY Sports' @MattHayesCFB about his firing at Northwestern, hazing allegations and building a future with Michigan State football.

🔗: https://t.co/rqlrBYELzY

📸: Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images