José Padilla on the fear of death and a life without regrets

In this episode of PERSONAL VERITAS, former college roommates and longtime friends José Padilla and Marios Broustas talk about how the fear of death can actually inspire, and often ensure, a meaningful life.


BIOS

José Padilla is a father and husband to his wife from Siberia and four children, as well as a corporate lawyer running his own firm, Padilla Law in San Antonio, TX. José was the first in his family to finish elementary school, ending up at Harvard College and later the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Since graduating, he has lived in New York City, Philadelphia, Austin, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Las Vegas, and, now, San Antonio. He ran for U.S. Congress while living in Las Vegas and is an avid traveler who speaks five languages and has already visited more than 60 countries and aspires to reach every country one day.

Marios Broustas lives in Geneva with his wife and two children. While he worked on the Harvard Crimson all four years of college and thought he’d become a journalist after graduation, he ultimately pivoted to pursue a business path. After a career in finance in London and New York, he is now head of strategy in a family-owned Swiss company that sells fragrances and flavors around the world.


CREDITS

Executive Producer: Ann Elisabeth Samson
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao 
Music: Rachel Garlin
Art: Kate Isenberg 


SONG

Night Time
Words, music, guitar, voice: Rachel Garlin (ASCAP)
Recorded and mixed by Ron Alan Cohen
 
Most people who know me 
Would say that I smile a lot
I’m a positive optimist slowly
Metabolizing all his fear that I’ve got
 
When I get older
Maybe I’ll grow out of it
And get used to the fact that this life is finite
And the only wild card that you get 
 
We’re all driven by something
If we’re lucky we’re inspired
I think about death quite a bit
Usually at night time
 
My grandma on the mountain
Some days I still grieve her
And I never lost trust in what I was told
Of the story of Julius Cesar
 
He stood at the statue
In the apocryphal tale 
Came to realize the number of years that we get
Has nothing to do with what’s fair
 
We’re all driven by something
If we’re lucky we’re inspired
I think about death quite a bit
Usually at night time
 
Oooh, oooh, oooh
Oooh, oooh, oooh
 
No family before me
Wore a cap and gown
No one finished up elementary school
Or traveled away from this town
 
And that just makes me grateful
For the past that I had 
Our house was the smallest, but we didn’t notice
You compare, you despair, then you’re dead
 
We’re all driven by something
If we’re lucky we’re inspired
I think about death quite a bit
Usually at night time