Yesterday I woke up to the news of the death of Steve Jobs. It was a shocker… not that we were not expecting his death, since he announced that he had pancreatic cancer in 2004 it was just a matter of time. Still, it was a blow. Hubby and I listened to the commencement lecture he delivered in 2005 and it was eye opening. From that lecture, it appeared he was ready for death and had tried to prepare his family too.

Steve Jobs died at 56 but what he achieved in his lifetime is nothing short of amazing. There are so many tributes pouring out and the major cities in the world have mourners who are mourning the man. But who was he?

How many children did he have? I only got to learn from Al Jazeera yesterday that his biological father was Syrian. Someone said everything about him was opaque. So though I felt sad about his demise, I did not really mourn him. I never really knew who Steve Jobs was; the closest I got to seeing into the man was that commencement lecture he gave. Yet the man had a cult-like following.

Did Steve touch my life? I would have to say NO. His products might have touched lives, certainly. But I can’t rightly say that he touched my life although he might have positively affected some other lives. It would be nice to have a great line of products that touches people’s lives and be a master innovator.

I strongly believe that you need to live your life in a way that affects people’s lives. It does not matter what you do, whether you are a teacher or you deal in truck tire chains - you need to live your life in a way that can touch lives.

What do you want people to say about you when you’re gone? You need to start living your life to reflect that now.

In the meantime, listen to this lecture and let me know what you think.