Leave it Better than You Found It
As I was walking to the village today (Amy took my car and my key to her car was conveniently locked INSIDE it) I had ample opportunity to think about recent events in my life. I'm a pleaser - I like to make everybody happy and I really don't like confrontation, so it's a bit odd that in the last couple months I've managed to tell a job and a team to basically bite me. I started the whole "what the hell is wrong with me" dialogue as I ambled down the sidewalk. It was cold, it was windy, but the sun was shining and I was wearing my favorite blue hoodie. That made all the difference and it really helped adjust my attitude accordingly.
What I finally realized was something I'm sure somebody much wiser than me, probably my grandfather, mother, or some smartass friend, had told me a long time ago: no matter what you do, leave it better than you found it. That struck a chord (pardon the pun from composer boy there) and I riffed on that for a while as I walked in the sun.
When I landed the youth symphony job, there were only three orchestras and a little over 200 kids in the whole program. When I left, I had helped build the program into seven orchestras and over 450 kids. Many of those kids I personally brought into the fold, as you can't really have a decent orchestra experience for ANY of the kids if you don't have full instrumentation. So I beat the bushes for the instrumentation we needed year after year. I made it better.
When I took over the presidency of the bike team, we hadn't had a decent operating system in place for two years. We installed a board, solidified sponsorship, garnered several big-money sponsors in addition to our current ones, and we managed to put up solid, and sometimes stellar, race results. I helped make it better.
Of course, if you want to get all metaphysical on me, I guess I could also say that I've managed to take my own self and make it better. I'm lighter, faster, stronger, and I dare say a little more savvy, after all the B.S. I've gone through the last few years. I got better.
There's still an area or two in my life that I look at and sigh. Things I've not managed to turn around or make better. But I'm not done yet. Joy is evasive and I'm still in the hunt. I will find it. I have to find it. Life is too damn short otherwise. Or else I'm just fooling myself....and that wouldn't be making it better, now would it?
Jeffrey
What I finally realized was something I'm sure somebody much wiser than me, probably my grandfather, mother, or some smartass friend, had told me a long time ago: no matter what you do, leave it better than you found it. That struck a chord (pardon the pun from composer boy there) and I riffed on that for a while as I walked in the sun.
When I landed the youth symphony job, there were only three orchestras and a little over 200 kids in the whole program. When I left, I had helped build the program into seven orchestras and over 450 kids. Many of those kids I personally brought into the fold, as you can't really have a decent orchestra experience for ANY of the kids if you don't have full instrumentation. So I beat the bushes for the instrumentation we needed year after year. I made it better.
When I took over the presidency of the bike team, we hadn't had a decent operating system in place for two years. We installed a board, solidified sponsorship, garnered several big-money sponsors in addition to our current ones, and we managed to put up solid, and sometimes stellar, race results. I helped make it better.
Of course, if you want to get all metaphysical on me, I guess I could also say that I've managed to take my own self and make it better. I'm lighter, faster, stronger, and I dare say a little more savvy, after all the B.S. I've gone through the last few years. I got better.
There's still an area or two in my life that I look at and sigh. Things I've not managed to turn around or make better. But I'm not done yet. Joy is evasive and I'm still in the hunt. I will find it. I have to find it. Life is too damn short otherwise. Or else I'm just fooling myself....and that wouldn't be making it better, now would it?
Jeffrey
posted by Jeffrey at
4:12 PM
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