Insight #108
“Do you really think you can fill these shoes?” (Created with Microsoft Copilot). . .
I had writer’s block while Bruce Cockburn sang “No footprints when we go” in the background. I thought about footprints and pictured footprints on a beach, before the tide gets them. Then I got an idea. (Thanks, Bruce. Your Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws is one of my favorite LPs/CDs.)
Who wants to leave footprints when they go? Big ones? My list includes opinionated politicians, ego-centric CEOs, and know-it-all billionaires. (You may add to this list. And no, social media influencers and so-called celebrities are not leaders.)
Here’s the thought I had. There are three types of people:
- Those who strive to be remembered by leaving huge footprints.
- Those who live so as not to cause ripples.
- Those who don’t think about either option.
As a kid, I did not think about either option. Then, as a young man, I became ego-driven enough to want to leave my mark. And now, older and wiser, I simply want to fade away.
If you really believe that the future belongs to your children, then do two things:
- Leave your personal space in better shape than you found it.
- And don’t carve your name on every tempting surface.
(Me? I’m now often too tired to tidy up. But I’ll say this for being tired. I have little energy to carve my name anywhere.)
Too often “big shoes to fill” means that those big shoes stomped on others, leaving damaging footprints behind.
The need to be remembered is equally damaging. It creates a lot of nonsense for our children to clean up.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
. . .