Short excerpt from a YouTube interview between James Laughlin and Caroline. James asks what advice Caroline would give about living life on purpose; Caroline responds with a personal mantra learned during bulimia recovery: "you can't keep what you don't give away," urging that one should share their gains (help, love, resources) with others so they are not inwardly zero-sum.
Fast forward many years into the future, you're highly aware that it's your last day here on earth and someone very young that you love dearly comes into the room and they say, caroline, how on earth do I go about leading my life on purpose? What would you say?
I would say you can't keep what you don't give away. Because somebody said that to me early in my bulimia recovery because I was so proud of myself just doing this impossible thing. And she basically taught me what giving and love and happiness is all about. She's like, you got to pull people along with you. It's not enough for you to get better. It's great, but you can't keep what you don't give away. And I think that's my mantra in life. And I think it teaches you so much to make sure that it's not just a zero sum game about yourself and that whatever you have, turn around and give it to somebody else who can use it.
