Every single time I go into a public bathroom my thought is to leave it better than I found it. It doesn’t matter that they have people cleaning, I personally want to leave it better for the next person because what’s the alternative? You just leave it a mess for the next person to deal with? I’ve had that thought and that’s not how I want to live my life. When I’m going into a public bathroom and it’s packed and you’re waiting for the next stall, I don’t want to go in after someone who looks slovenly or dirty because I imagine that’s how they left it, do you ever do that? You imagine if someone is neat and clean, that’s probably how they left the bathroom, neat and clean.
How you do one thing is how you do everything. Remember? That’s why the little things matter. Yeah, it may be somebody else’s job but how much better do you feel when you’ve left it better than it was for the next person?
I’m not a person who wants to live in a mess so I better become a person who takes action when there is a mess regardless of who made it. Now I certainly don’t seek these types of things out where Im cleaning up messes all the time but if I notice something, and it’s within my power to do something about it, I do.
It’s been quite windy in the last week or so and last week my neighbors recycle bin blew over with bottles and boxes just everywhere. I had a choice. It wasn’t my job to clean it up, nobody else was around to see me not clean it up but it’s a lot easier for me to clean it up than for my 70 year old neighbor to do it. And I want to be a person that leaves things better than they found it. So I cleaned it up and it felt good, for the rest of the day, it felt good. It took me 3 minutes, literally, but the benefits lasted all day.
I was getting a handful of walnuts in our pantry and one fell somewhere not easily found, my initial reaction was to leave it because it would be a hassle to pull everything out to find one walnut, but that’s not how I want to show up so I pull out the waters and the waffle iron and the toaster, oh wait, the toaster, yep, there it was in the toaster, now had I just left it, the next time we put something in the toaster, we would have had a roasted walnut, not a big problem by itself, but is that me leaving things in a better place? Nope. Im happy I found it. I tore a paper towel off the roll and a little corner came off and flew on the floor, Mayra is coming later, I’ll just let her get it, no, it’s my mess, I noticed it, so I’m gonna clean it up. The little things we do matter.
And it doesn’t end there. How about the people you come in contact with every single day? From your partner to the cashier at the gas station. Are you leaving them better than before they encountered you? That’s really something to think about. Did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and make my husband wish I had stayed in bed? Good question. Becca taught everyone in that yoga class a valuable lesson, welcoming a guy in 20 minutes late, before she ever knew he was her big boss. That’s how she treats everyone, she leaves them better for having encountered her. How about you? Have you ever been having a bad day and someone made your day just by smiling at you? I have. Have you ever been having a bad day and in turn made sure someone else was just as miserable? Ive done that too.
But on a regular general basis, are people better off for having run into you? I hope so. Check out the full episode to hear a cool story! I love you guys!
