Whatsa Motto F'You?

(Title read in the voice of Chico Marx)

This is a bit of a departure from the political fray, but some of the discussions I’ve participated in recently reminded me of it. By way of background, several years ago, my wife gave me a wonderful writing subscription to StoryWorth (highly recommended for those who enjoy writing), and one of the prompt questions posed was, “What would you consider your motto?” This was my response.

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I don’t know if I really have a particular motto, but I do have three basic tenets that I try to live by. They’re somewhat related, perhaps a bit trite, but nevertheless sum up some of my best qualities. So, without further ado:

          1. Give more than you take

          2. Leave each place or thing better than you found it

          3. Never leave the toilet seat up

Each has some depth, and could use some context. Let’s see what we can make of them.

          1. Give more than you take

We are all producers and consumers of goods, services, resources, and emotional capital. Collectively, we need a surplus of these things if we are to continue to grow. However, as harsh as this may sound, there are some who can’t do for themselves, and there are some who, for some reason, won’t do for themselves. It’s up to the rest of us to make up the difference. It’s not for us to judge others, but to understand how we fit together for the greater good.

Clearly, there are some who carry a heavy physical or mental burden, and need the help of others to survive and thrive. We cannot and must not abandon them, but we also cannot lessen our own load and put that on someone else. So we help those in need, perhaps not always directly, but maybe by supporting and enabling others who in turn support them.

There are also some who feel entitled, owed, or worse, sociopathically justified to take from others or otherwise consume more than they produce. A subset of these is redeemable (i.e., “…teach a man to fish…”), while others are not (i.e., they’re too damaged by innate or external influences).

Therefore, in order to move society and humanity forward, the rest of us need to produce more than we consume, and the more surplus we create, the greater the positive impact on the whole. For those who can’t do for themselves, we can help them to be as productive as possible; for those who won’t do for themselves, perhaps our efforts will inspire them to do better.

Giving more than you take is the essence of volunteerism. Ironically, volunteer work often produces far more than the work itself, in that the volunteer is usually rewarded with satisfaction, appreciation, and a desire to do more.

          2. Leave each place or thing better than you found it

I always try to make improvements wherever I go or in whatever I do. Part of it is the engineer in me, but part of it is rooted in the first tenet. In some cases, such improvements are minor (e.g., picking up a piece of trash, moving a tree branch from the middle of the road, or fixing a tripping hazard). Some improvements are far more significant, and indeed everything we have today is the cumulative result of improvements made by those who came before.

As with my first tenet, the second one includes volunteering. Throughout my life, some of my greatest accomplishments and contributions have been through volunteering. I’ve been a student government leader in college, co-led a protest against tuition increases, coached and organized kids’ baseball and soccer, donated many gallons worth of blood and platelets, served on two Red Cross Boards of Directors, worked with Habitat for Humanity, and am currently serving on the Board of Trustees and as an officer of our condo association. Aside from the satisfaction of helping out (which is what drives me), I’ve been recognized by several honor societies, the Red Cross, community organizations, and even a U.S. President.

          3. Never leave the toilet seat up

This one is actually more of a metaphor than an actual life guideline. It’s really about being considerate. It also ties to the other two, in that you never really know the burdens others are carrying. They may have mental or physical health problems or limitations, financial difficulties, family issues, or be subject to other circumstances that we have neither a right nor need to know. We should just try to be considerate of others, not judge, and treat them as we would want to be treated.

Now that I’ve gone through this exercise, maybe I can synthesize these three tenets into a personal motto after all:

          B  e Generous

          O  ptimize Things

          B  e Considerate

Howzat?