I had a friend I used to work with. We’ll call him Mark. I have to admit that in many ways, I was always jealous of Mark. He was brilliant. Everybody liked him. Everything seemed to come easily to him. Although he started a career in campaign politics after me, his career quickly outpaced mine. He got one great job after another and ended up starting his own consulting firm a few years ago. The firm was extremely successful, even advising candidates for top office in a number of countries. He was married to a beautiful wife. He seemed to have it all.
For awhile, Mark shared an apartment with one of my best friends. I remember hanging out at their apartment. He had just bought the new REM tape (we still listened to cassettes back then). I remember him playing it for me. After playing one song, I think it was Losing My Religion, I asked him to play the song again. It was so good. But he told me no, that the next song would be just as good. He was right, as he always was.
Despite the fact that Mark seemed so pulled together, he had a humility that made him impossible to dislike. I remember him calling me once when I got a new job. Despite the fact that he had jobs I could only dream of, he told me that I was his model of success. It was a great line, and I’m sure he said that to lots of people. But he had such sincerity about him that you had to believe…
