Legacy

Leave Things Better Off Than You Found Them

“When you borrow the neighbors lawn mower, return it cleaned with blades sharpened.”

-Michael Conn

When Michael and I were young and poor (and even when we weren’t so young but still very poor) we used to get teased a lot for mopping our friend’s kitchen floor after a weekend stay at their house. It wasn’t an AirBnb thing (they didn’t exist yet) or a VRBO or even a house exchange offering, it was simply staying in our friend’s home (with permission) for a long weekend while they were out-of-town so we could pretend to have an “out-of-town” experience. (Remember those days? We’re talking POOR! “Can I pay my Visa bill with my Mastercard?” Poor.)

We didn’t invent this philosophy.

We didn’t have this shoved down our throats growing up.

It’s just, you know, the right thing to do.

It’s really how I look at all things.

Leave Things Better Off Than
You Found Them

In Yoga, we’ve studied the Eight Limbs of Yoga:

NIYAMA – Positive duties or observances

There are five Niyamas: 

• saucha (cleanliness) is one of them.

Perhaps, it was the Niyamas speaking to us back then?

I don’t think I knew the Niyamas at the time. But, don’t we all do things without having to know or understand the reason for doing it? 

So, “Why did we get teased?”

This is a more interesting question.

I’m not really sure why.

Perhaps the act of mopping our friend’s floor was interpreted as their feelings of guilt because they didn’t reciprocate similarly …

It doesn’t really matter.

Except for one thing.

(And it’s a stickler)

When I pass the baton on a project that I’ve worked on, I do it for a bigger picture. You know, not the self-gratification baton, but rather the grander-picture baton.

I desire to pass it on ALWAYS for whole picture purposes.

When I look up the phrase: “Passing the baton” this is what pops up,

“Passing the Baton.” 

Passing the baton connotes a change in leadership. Just as in a relay race, a fumble in this passing may trigger the demise of the team. 

Shared leadership between the one passing the baton and the one receiving the baton instills confidence.

Shared leadership … instills confidence.

I love a good team sport.

Especially when it’s a functioning one. I love building confidence in others and witnessing growth and expansion. 

I love it!

“What do you do when there is no one to take the baton?”

Or, “What do you do when the baton is dropped?”

Wallow in sorrowful feelings?

Self loathe?

Consume too many whiskey shots?

Perhaps temporarily.

But it’s not a permanent solution.

This can be a frustrating experience. 

(We all experienced this through COVID and the pandemic when we were all told to go home - often to reinvent everything we did) 

A dropped baton can be a pisser!

Why is it important to pick the baton up?

… to demonstrate leadership, courage and perseverance.

About Schmidt

 A while ago, I watched a mediocre Jack Nicholson movie called About Schmidt. He was a sad unhappily married insurance agent who processed everything by hand using pen to paper. Upon retirement, he showed his organizational system to the replacement employee. This new employee patiently listened and watched as Jack proceeded with his routine. But in the end, the replacement employee just threw the system out in the dumpster and continued with his own digital upgraded system.

Was this a missed opportunity to see things in a new and different light, or is the sad reality of progress?

I’m reading this to help me with my own transitions into retirement. When I read the following, it helped, “People: Ultimately, it is all about the people: an organization’s most important asset.  A company should constantly be developing its people, the Next Generation and those that will need to succeed them at lower levels.  It is about ensuring that the entire culture including the employees, families, customers, suppliers and even the community benefits from the changing of the guard.  What the leaders are is what the culture and business will become.  Before you have a changing of the guard, people need to be prepared ahead of time.”

Overall, succession is challenging, especially in a community of workers. At lower levels, transition can be stressful for those involved, but leaders at the top can step in and help to smooth and fix critical elements. If succession is done poorly at the top, you may end up ruining the business and hurting a great many people including the community. But if done well, the BIGGER picture is continuously kept mindfully aware.

As I am transitioning into retirement, letting go of projects and programs I love conjures up truckloads of emotions! Sure, I can recreate them in my future no matter where I go, but the internal struggle that I experience is that I customize them to work where they are. Letting them go and knowing the baton cannot be passed hurts and brings tremendous sadness. 

And so, as I wean myself from former realities to future realities, I make the proper adjustments within me and within my immediate environment. I can maintain a steady run with my baton! 

In the end, I’ll probably still mop my friend’s floor (although they now have an AirBnb cleaner who cleans up after us) - the analogy still holds true, Leave Things Better Off Than You Found Them. As for Michael, he’ll still return the lawn mower cleaned and with sharpened blades; however, he’ll additionally and most likely mow our own and our neighbor’s yard on top of it!

NIYAMA – Positive duties or observances

How do you Rise Up and pass on the baton in your life? How are you with endings?