The basketball team at Mullen High School carries this message on their warm up jackets. “Say less, do more.”
It makes me wonder how much I say that never gets followed up. One of the things I like about ranching is that most days you wake up with a plan and then spend most of your time putting out fires that weren’t part of the plan. A day that sees the plan accomplished without interruption or hindrance is rare, but at least you never get bored.
Age has taught me not to plan so much, and do more of whatever needs done at the moment. That said, I still find myself making lists of what needs done and not crossing much off the list. Several times this week, I’ve said I need to call my sister-in-law and see how they are but it hasn’t happened. Somehow, good intentions just don’t cut it.
Now and then, I accidentally accomplish a goal that I hadn’t verbalized. There’s a lot of truth in the old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The other day, the silverware drawer wasn’t quite closed. Before I could make a plan, everything was lying on the counter and I was wiping out the drawer.
If you’re anything like me, you probably spend a good portion of the day thinking about how someone would be better off if they just did things differently. Maybe you’ve even suggested a new hair style, or that the person ought not to wear pink. Or you begged them to stop smoking, drinking, driving so fast, or offered to share details of your latest diet.
Chances are, you’ve employed these tactics before. Chances are, nothing came of your advice except that the person seems to find other places to be than with you. Your suggestions were only for the person’s own good, but let me tell you about that. Anytime something is told for my own good, it’s going to be something I already know, and have decided to ignore. Saying something once is a suggestion. Saying it again is nagging.
We have only to turn on the news or stop by the coffeeshop to hear folks offering a solution to world problems. But here’s a funny thing—the people with the advice, be they politicians or just Joe from next door, aren’t doing anything concrete to make things better. The ones that are making a difference don’t have time to be interviewed or palaver over the back fence. They say less and do a lot more.
Bill Wilson shared this wisdom. “If we would favorably affect others, we ourselves need to practice what we preach. And forget the preaching too.”
That’s enough out of me. I have things to do.