How Do You Measure Success?
We're a peculiar bunch.
"What is your biggest success in life? Your legacy you leave behind?"
"I married a wonderful person and raised three wonderful children."
Yeah. So have billions of other people, both today and throughout history.
"I'm an executive director making six figures a year. My family can have anything they want."
Yeah. So have millions of other people, both today and throughout history.
"My social media account has gone viral. I have thousands of followers watching me hike mountains and cook food over an open fire."
Yeah. So have millions of other people, both today and throughout history.
"Wait a minute!" you might be screaming in your head. "There was no social media prior to the Internet."
There was social media, of sorts. Think Dear Abbey. Archaic, slow, and inefficient by today's standards, but Dear Abbey is arguably an early example of a chat room. If you remember the column's heyday in the 70's, not only did Abbey carry on a year or so debate on the proper way to hang toilet paper, but so did her twin sister, Ann Landers. (More on Abbey and Ann, for the young folk.) Over forty years later, the debate continues in the modern chat rooms, complete with patent drawings showing the proper way the inventor of the toilet roll intended the paper to be hung. (The inventor is wrong, by the way. He would know that if he designed the roll based on my bathroom.)
You might notice a trend, here. When people talk about their successes and the legacy they believe they are creating, their responses are framed in the it's-all-about-me context. They give you the narrative version of a selfie. Rarely does one describe their successes and legacy in terms of what they did for others or how they made the world a better place.
Ok, I know you want to so do it. Google "proper way to hang toilet paper." Please bookmark this article first so you can easily return to finish my article after you have set the world straight on how to hang toilet paper. Over-the-top appears to be winning right now, but if you have a tight bathroom, surely underneath-and-against-the-wall should win.
So just how do you measure your biggest success....
Wait a minute. Let's get back to that toilet paper thing. The proper way to hang toilet paper is really a socioeconomic indicator. Small bathrooms (read poorer people who can't afford big houses) have to hang their toilet paper underneath so it falls against the wall and conserves space. Rich people can afford big houses with big bathrooms and can show off their wealth by letting the toilet paper flow over the roll freely. After forty plus years since first reading of the Great Toilet Paper Debate in an Ann Landers column, it all makes sense to me now. Toilet paper flowing over the top is nothing more than a snobby way to show off one's wealth! Did you ever notice the paper hangs underneath in those port-a-potties?
All the funning aside, what is your big contribution to the world? Because you can hang your toilet paper over the roll, does that mean you've created a legacy or made the world a better place? Because you hang your toilet paper underneath the roll to conserve space, does that mean you've created no legacy nor made the world a better place?
Maybe the better question is do you live your life to leave a legacy and make the world a better place or do you live your life...period? I believe the latter is true.
Fortunately, we have great scientists, philosophers, thinkers, business leaders, religious leaders, and a bunch of other "tops in their fields" who get all the glory and recognition for their contributions. Most of them are forgotten in short order. Only a handful have lasting influence, influence that fades with each passing generation.
Wait, don't believe me? Have you ever heard of the sixteen-year-old girl (or maybe more appropriately, young woman) who rode, alone, side saddle over forty miles (twice the distance of Paul Revere) to alert her father of the coming British invasion in Connecticut? Because of her efforts, Sybil Ludington's father relocated his 400 troops to greet the British and chase the British troops out of Connecticut during the Revolutionary War.
You might be inclined to think that we don't remember everybody from long ago no matter what their influence on the course of history was because, well, it was so long ago. We can't possibly remember every single person and the great contributions they have made.
Fair enough. How about two years ago? Do you remember any of these fifteen heroes during the Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 59 people, the largest mass shooting in this country ever? Like me, you probably heard of one or two of the stories, but have long since forgotten the names and faces behind the stories.
And most readers probably didn't blink an eye when I typed "the largest mass shooting in this country ever," did you? The Las Vegas shooting might be the largest mass shooting by a civilian, but our government, by far, holds the record for a mass shooting. While history books refer to Wounded Knee as a battle, implying some sort of war was taking place, in reality it was a mass shooting sanctioned by the US government. Of the 150 Native American deaths (some historians put that number as high as 300), almost half were women and children. There was no ongoing armed conflict with the Sioux. Troops stormed their reservation because of fear of a growing Indian movement that needed to be quelled. Tensions were high and the smallest incidence triggered the massacre, some historians believing it was the Calvary's desire for revenge of the regiment's humiliating defeat fourteen years earlier at Little Big Horn.
No matter how one looks at Wounded Knee, there's hundreds of stories erased from history. Of the hundreds of people involved in that moment of history, what were the individual legacies left behind? Did a Sioux mother die by throwing herself over her baby to protect her? Did a US soldier stop his buddy from shooting a scared Sioux child? Did a Sioux warrior stumble across one of the twenty-five Calvary soldiers who were killed and offer him water as he took his last breath? We'll never know.
And that's the tragedy in this whole story. We'll never know.
There is a lesson, if you will, to this story. The next time someone asks you what your success in life is or the legacy you leave behind, don't flash your paycheck. Don't parade your children around. Don't talk about your faith in your God and how you spread the Gospel to help others.
If a down and out person approaches you asking for spare change to buy something to eat, would you tell him to get a job as you walked on your way or would you take him to the nearest convenience store and buy him something to eat? If you saw someone (and, yes, even a man) with black eyes, would you ignore the bruises or strike up a conversation to put your mind at ease that they aren't a victim of abuse? If you see someone bullying or hurting someone else, would you whip out your phone to make the next viral video sensation or call 911? If you were in a Walmart and heard gun shots, would you run and hide or swoop up as many people as you could to lead them out the back door? If you had no cell phone and your car wouldn't start, would you open another beer or would you hop side saddle on a horse and ride forty miles to warn someone of impending danger?
Your little actions today may not make headline news much less the pages of a history book, but they are important for determining the direction humanity ultimately takes. It's the billions of little untold stories that create the biggest changes...and moves societies and civilizations along.
TL;DR Folks:
What does how you hang your toilet paper have to do with the legacy you leave behind? Answer: about as much as how many likes and followers you have on social media has to do with the legacy you leave behind - nothing. So what legacy will you leave behind?
For your listening pleasure:
Posted by A Drunk Redneck
"What is your biggest success in life? Your legacy you leave behind?"
"I married a wonderful person and raised three wonderful children."
Yeah. So have billions of other people, both today and throughout history. "I'm an executive director making six figures a year. My family can have anything they want."
Yeah. So have millions of other people, both today and throughout history.
"My social media account has gone viral. I have thousands of followers watching me hike mountains and cook food over an open fire."
Yeah. So have millions of other people, both today and throughout history.
"Wait a minute!" you might be screaming in your head. "There was no social media prior to the Internet."
There was social media, of sorts. Think Dear Abbey. Archaic, slow, and inefficient by today's standards, but Dear Abbey is arguably an early example of a chat room. If you remember the column's heyday in the 70's, not only did Abbey carry on a year or so debate on the proper way to hang toilet paper, but so did her twin sister, Ann Landers. (More on Abbey and Ann, for the young folk.) Over forty years later, the debate continues in the modern chat rooms, complete with patent drawings showing the proper way the inventor of the toilet roll intended the paper to be hung. (The inventor is wrong, by the way. He would know that if he designed the roll based on my bathroom.)
You might notice a trend, here. When people talk about their successes and the legacy they believe they are creating, their responses are framed in the it's-all-about-me context. They give you the narrative version of a selfie. Rarely does one describe their successes and legacy in terms of what they did for others or how they made the world a better place.
Ok, I know you want to so do it. Google "proper way to hang toilet paper." Please bookmark this article first so you can easily return to finish my article after you have set the world straight on how to hang toilet paper. Over-the-top appears to be winning right now, but if you have a tight bathroom, surely underneath-and-against-the-wall should win.
So just how do you measure your biggest success....
Wait a minute. Let's get back to that toilet paper thing. The proper way to hang toilet paper is really a socioeconomic indicator. Small bathrooms (read poorer people who can't afford big houses) have to hang their toilet paper underneath so it falls against the wall and conserves space. Rich people can afford big houses with big bathrooms and can show off their wealth by letting the toilet paper flow over the roll freely. After forty plus years since first reading of the Great Toilet Paper Debate in an Ann Landers column, it all makes sense to me now. Toilet paper flowing over the top is nothing more than a snobby way to show off one's wealth! Did you ever notice the paper hangs underneath in those port-a-potties?
All the funning aside, what is your big contribution to the world? Because you can hang your toilet paper over the roll, does that mean you've created a legacy or made the world a better place? Because you hang your toilet paper underneath the roll to conserve space, does that mean you've created no legacy nor made the world a better place?
Maybe the better question is do you live your life to leave a legacy and make the world a better place or do you live your life...period? I believe the latter is true.
Fortunately, we have great scientists, philosophers, thinkers, business leaders, religious leaders, and a bunch of other "tops in their fields" who get all the glory and recognition for their contributions. Most of them are forgotten in short order. Only a handful have lasting influence, influence that fades with each passing generation.
Wait, don't believe me? Have you ever heard of the sixteen-year-old girl (or maybe more appropriately, young woman) who rode, alone, side saddle over forty miles (twice the distance of Paul Revere) to alert her father of the coming British invasion in Connecticut? Because of her efforts, Sybil Ludington's father relocated his 400 troops to greet the British and chase the British troops out of Connecticut during the Revolutionary War.
You might be inclined to think that we don't remember everybody from long ago no matter what their influence on the course of history was because, well, it was so long ago. We can't possibly remember every single person and the great contributions they have made.
Fair enough. How about two years ago? Do you remember any of these fifteen heroes during the Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 59 people, the largest mass shooting in this country ever? Like me, you probably heard of one or two of the stories, but have long since forgotten the names and faces behind the stories.
And most readers probably didn't blink an eye when I typed "the largest mass shooting in this country ever," did you? The Las Vegas shooting might be the largest mass shooting by a civilian, but our government, by far, holds the record for a mass shooting. While history books refer to Wounded Knee as a battle, implying some sort of war was taking place, in reality it was a mass shooting sanctioned by the US government. Of the 150 Native American deaths (some historians put that number as high as 300), almost half were women and children. There was no ongoing armed conflict with the Sioux. Troops stormed their reservation because of fear of a growing Indian movement that needed to be quelled. Tensions were high and the smallest incidence triggered the massacre, some historians believing it was the Calvary's desire for revenge of the regiment's humiliating defeat fourteen years earlier at Little Big Horn.
No matter how one looks at Wounded Knee, there's hundreds of stories erased from history. Of the hundreds of people involved in that moment of history, what were the individual legacies left behind? Did a Sioux mother die by throwing herself over her baby to protect her? Did a US soldier stop his buddy from shooting a scared Sioux child? Did a Sioux warrior stumble across one of the twenty-five Calvary soldiers who were killed and offer him water as he took his last breath? We'll never know.
And that's the tragedy in this whole story. We'll never know.
There is a lesson, if you will, to this story. The next time someone asks you what your success in life is or the legacy you leave behind, don't flash your paycheck. Don't parade your children around. Don't talk about your faith in your God and how you spread the Gospel to help others.
If a down and out person approaches you asking for spare change to buy something to eat, would you tell him to get a job as you walked on your way or would you take him to the nearest convenience store and buy him something to eat? If you saw someone (and, yes, even a man) with black eyes, would you ignore the bruises or strike up a conversation to put your mind at ease that they aren't a victim of abuse? If you see someone bullying or hurting someone else, would you whip out your phone to make the next viral video sensation or call 911? If you were in a Walmart and heard gun shots, would you run and hide or swoop up as many people as you could to lead them out the back door? If you had no cell phone and your car wouldn't start, would you open another beer or would you hop side saddle on a horse and ride forty miles to warn someone of impending danger?
Your little actions today may not make headline news much less the pages of a history book, but they are important for determining the direction humanity ultimately takes. It's the billions of little untold stories that create the biggest changes...and moves societies and civilizations along.
TL;DR Folks:
What does how you hang your toilet paper have to do with the legacy you leave behind? Answer: about as much as how many likes and followers you have on social media has to do with the legacy you leave behind - nothing. So what legacy will you leave behind?
Posted by A Drunk Redneck
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