I had a chance to sit down one on one with Jane Goodall over the weekend. We talked about a lot of things – chimps, biodiversity, the chances of the world changing. But we also spent a brief moment on the idea of fate.
ME: Do you believe in fate?
JANE: Well, I sometimes almost have to. Because I look back over my life and see that a led to b, to c, to d, and all I had to do, it seems, is make the right decision at the right point in time. And I feel I must have because I feel I’m doing what I ought to be doing.
ME: But how do you know what the right decision is?
JANE: Well, you don’t at the time. You don’t know it’s right. But you hope it’s right, don’t you? You always hope to make the right decision. Fortunately, I think I did.
ME: But now you have to spend 300 days a year on the road.
JANE: 300 days a year on the road is really really tough…
I think I was secretly hoping Jane could help me make some decisions of my own. She can’t. But I think she taught me something about tradeoffs and trust. That’s the thing about being an adult. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and hope you land on two feet.
