Leave it cleaner
Sep 03, 2019The concept of leaving things cleaner than you found them can be explained with one visual: Public Bathrooms.
How great would it be for all of us if we were confident that the public stalls we were using would be clean? Really, all it takes is for everyone to follow rule #8 below:
Wouldn't it be nice if we all lived by these rules?
How many times do people walk into the kitchen and every cabinet is open, or come home and every light in the house is on? How about when you go to use something and it's not where you left it?
Sound familiar?
When I was growing up, I was taught that doing the things on this list was called 'having good manners.' As I have now learned, I believe these behaviors are defined by 2 words:
Responsibility & Respect
responsibility for yourself and respect for others
When we take responsibility for ourselves, we generally will feel good about it because being responsible is a way to gain self-respect. Respecting oneself increases our sense of self-worth, and this improves positive interactions with others.
When we take ownership of our behavior, we avoid doing things that impose on others negatively. By doing this, we are showing respect. Others will appreciate our courtesy and consideration for our surroundings.
If we all took more care of our "stuff" there would be a lot less frustration and irritation. When more people are dismissive of their impact in their environment it creates a perpetual negative snowball effect. "They didn't do it, why should I?" On the contrary, if we all took more care of our community, we would teach by example, we would set a higher standard for others to maintain, and we would eventually live more harmoniously.
