noblesse oblige [-] the very status of a lord has been traditionally derived from protecting others, trading personal risk for prominence*
(Nassim Taleb)

It used to be that only the rich and powerful got to play the “noblesse oblige game,” but we’ve moved on a little since then and many more of us find ourselves with the possibility of playing.

In some words I often find myself reflecting on from Frederick Buechner, we find our purpose or calling where our deepest joy meets the world’s deepest needs.

More than having a great idea, more than feeling passionately about something, it is about having “skin in the game,” as Nassim Taleb puts it.

Ironically, it can be a promotion that takes us out of our “deepest joy” which loses our particular skin in the game.

The testing question is: Is this still not about me?

(*From Nassim Taleb’s Skin in the Game.)