Trash Day

“He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened."
Lao Tzu

Greetings folks! I know you think I fell off like J-Hud’s weight or MC Hammer’s career and you’re right. But to a much lesser extent. I haven’t been doing right by my blog. I’ve been so busy lately that Wednesdays tend to creep up on me. But I have a calendar and there’s no excuse so I won’t make any. I’ll just apologize, give you a fist bump and hope that makes things right. If not, come visit me and I have a bag of Skittles with your name on it. Now down to business.

Yesterday (1/17/12) was garbage day for me and as I was taking out the trash it inspired my morning message. The message was about the importance of taking out the proverbial trash in our lives. In life we take out the trash for one of two reasons: (1) It’s that time of the week; or (2) It stinks. It’s second nature for me on Tuesday and Friday mornings when I get back from the gym to put the trash out on the curb. If I’m making a dish with onions, garlic, or discarding parts of raw meat, I take the trash outside before it stinks. If I forget, the stench reminds me.

We should apply the same rules and habits to our daily lives. Periodically and regularly we should take inventory of our life, specifically the habits we practice and the people we allow in it. So often we’re pulling people to the carpet, pointing out blemishes and stains in their lives, while often times neglecting to look ourselves in the mirror to do the same type of inspection. It’s easy to point out the spot on the girl’s dress sitting next to you, but unless you’re standing in the mirror giving yourself the same time of examination, it’s not always as easy to catch the blemish on your outfit. Most times, this is done not out of spite, jealousy, envy, or blindness, but out of pure neglect and in response to the enormity of the task.

From experience I’ve learned that personal introspection and self-evaluation are two of the more difficult tasks life asks us to perform. The questions; who am I? where am I going? and how do I get there may seem trivial at first glance, however upon closer inspection these questions aren’t as easy and straight forward as they appear. I love my team and the added value they bring to my life in the form of laughter, happiness and checking me when I need to be checked. But often times, stains on my personality, which are blatantly obvious to them, aren’t always as clear cut to me. Answers to the questions “who am I?” and “who do others think I am?” aren’t always mirror images. The fact of the matter is that they may never be. Depending on whom the question is being posed to and to what extent they know you the answer will vary. Ask five different people, from five different areas of your life who they think you are and you may get five different answers. There may be some overlap in their answers, but it’s likely that most will be more different than similar.

The goal is to get those in your inner circle, those who really know you, those who put up with you in spite of you, to have as positive an image of you as you do about yourself, and vice versa if the problem is the inverse. We have to periodically take inventory of our lives and determine what needs to stay and what needs to go. While we’re throwing out old gym shoes, last week’s leftovers, and love letters from that ex that shall forever remain nameless, throw in the pile that friend that never has anything positive to add, throw in your drug habit, alcoholism, and habit of being an arrogant prick.

You could wait until the proverbial trash in your life begins to stink, but that isn’t always the best move. A bad odor tends to drive people away. There’s a reason why no one wants to live next to a landfill, sit next to babies on planes (it’s the smell not the screaming), or be near your feet. If you wait until the stench of your bad habits hit the air you may scare away the people you really need to stay.

Take stock of the things that are important in life: faith, love, family, friends and happiness. If your life, the things you do, and the people you do them with don’t fit into any of those categories, then maybe it’s time to take out the trash.

Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!