Reflection on past jobs, past bosses and past relationships shines a spotlight on the stage from which we live out our lives. Using what is referred to commonly as “20/20 Hindsight†we profit from mistakes and move on. Seldom do we in the moment think that we are making memories. We are only experiencing the present and memories are to be formed somewhere in the future. How different our learning would be if we profited by recognizing a memory as we make it. To live our lives to the fullest we need to play out the parts in the life script we develop for ourselves. As the curtain closes on our life play there can be no unfinished scenes.
One particular manager I have respected and admired for a long time, even though our work relationship was years ago, fully accepted her role as a leader and mentor. She helped me more than she ever knew. She lived by the rule, “Don’t sweat the small stuff†and not only shared that philosophy but was able to instill an aura of peace in an otherwise tumultuous environment. Nothing rattled her because she knew that once she translated the big stuff going on around her to small stuff everything would be fine. I still treasure the copy of Richard Carlson’s book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff–and it’s all small stuff that she gave to me and have given copies to others. Somehow, just reading the cover tells the story. The view of all the troubles, trials and tribulations on earth seem miniscule when seen from space. They aren’t gone…they are just small.
So as we make memories today, we should remember that life’s big stuff is really not all that significant in the long run. Life is short and if we waste it in worry and want we will live to regret it. If we can make it all small stuff we can dismiss it. If it really turns out to be big, then we collectively can handle it. That is leadership.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting. – Dr. Seuss
Every man dies. Not every man really lives. – Braveheart
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. – Elbert Hubbard
Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways. – Stephen Vincent Benét
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. – Fr. Alfred D’Souza
Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead. – Scottish Proverb
I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see. – John Burroughs
Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. – Oliver Wendell Holmes
In theory one is aware that the earth revolves, but in practice one does not perceive it, the ground upon which one treads seems not to move, and one can live undisturbed. So it is with Time in one’s life. – Marcel Proust
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice. – Native American Saying