One year ago today, I lost the leader I've learned from my entire life.

One year ago today, I lost the leader I've learned from my entire life.

And I'm still learning from him:

He gave up skiing for flying.

Not because he had to.

Because he chose to grow.

In a 1964 Sports Illustrated interview, His Late Highness Aga Khan IV said:

"I've hung up my racing skis forever. I no longer have the time."

His fellow alpine skiers doubted him.

They knew his passion for the sport.

But he'd discovered something new.

"Piloting. That's what I'm taking up next. A man must not stand still."

He wasn't giving up something good.

He was making space for what came next.

As an Ismaili Muslim, His Late Highness Aga Khan IV, Mawlana Shah Karim Al-Husayni, was my spiritual leader.

Our 49th Imam.

He passed away on Feb 4th, 2025.

I only recently read about this skiing => piloting story, and it encapsulates one of our core Ismaili worldviews:

This world is constantly evolving.

As are we.

So purpose can't be fixed.

It too transforms.

Growth requires letting go.

Not because something was wrong, but because something better calls.

The best way I know to honour our 49th Imam?

Keep doing what he showed us:

Choose what comes next over what's comfortable now.

--

P.S. - part of 'letting go' also means I should be seeing today as the celebration of the beginning of the Imamat of our 50th Imam, H.H. Prince Rahim.

I'll get there.

Imamat Day Mubarak!

--

Photo: Kitzbühel, Austria, 1957.

Keystone/Getty Images via The Guardian