my runs with the crossing guard
I’ve picked up my morning runs again. This is the route I first ran when I moved to the Boston area for a few months in 2020. I had just hit a low point in my life and begun a life transformation in which I found the work of David Goggins, which inspired me to take my health more seriously and see exercise as a necessity. Read more about that in What I learned running 50 miles.
There’s a part of my run that goes by an elementary school which has crossing guards at each intersection each morning for pedestrians. Most of the time, I try to be mindful of the flow of traffic and thus, usually hurry ahead to cross when it’s clear on my own.
I noticed that one particular crossing guard, always walked out into the middle of the road, holding up the stop sign, to let me cross. At first, I thought he was just being nice or that maybe he thought others were also crossing besides me. But, each time I ran, I noticed he would do it, regardless if there was even a car stopped waiting to go on after I crossed. In addition to that, he always looks at me, smiles and says, “have a good day!” Nothing more, nothing less.
Here’s this middle-aged, slightly out of shape but jolly and peaceful crossing guard with a pure white goatee and thick glasses that gets up every day to do this same action, the same way. But he doesn’t just do this. He does it fully and he does it well. I’m sure he has his bad days and I know he’s not perfect, but it raised a question within myself.
“How fully and how well am I showing up to my work each day?”
I love my job and I’d like to believe I’m pretty good at it. Though I am newer in my career and have much to learn, I still have the ability to fully show up and give my best every day. I feel this way in most of my life roles.
If I’m honest, most days come with excuses and complaints. Whether it’s my job as a therapist, husband, father, son or friend, I don’t ask the above question near enough.
This isn’t a hyper-productivity bro, get your shit together post, but rather an honest and compassionate self-reflection on where we can live more into our potential. This doesn’t take away from the work you’re already doing, but actually allows you to best honor it and expand it.
“Repetition is not redundancy” - Jim Finley
It’s so easy to slip into the same ole same ole. Doing the same tasks at work, repeating the same actions at home. While we need to be on auto-pilot to a degree in order to function, it’s important to check in with ourselves to see where we’ve plateaud, missed the mark or become apathetic.
You may say, “But Wes, I do a great job at everything in my life.” To that I’d say “Great! But if you could do better, why wouldn’t you?”
In my said excuses and complaints lies a core belief: It’s easier for me to stay where I am and justify my inaction than it is to change and be vulnerability subject to the action.
What if you did your job so well that you inspired others to do their’s well too? We live in a world that values more of the particulars of what you do instead of the practicals of how you do it.
Job specifics don’t have an objective worthiness in that each job has value. Having a job does though. What we do is objective, how we do it is subjective.
Bottom line, stop worrying about doing the “right roles” you’re diong and start doing your best in all your current roles. It’s important to eventually find the best fit for roles in your life but often we use perfectionism and idealism as procrastination. Some roles may not last forever or even long term, but do your best in whatever you do. Who knows, you may inspire someone else (including yourself) to do the same.
Questions
How well are you doing in each of your life roles?
How do you know how well or not well you are doing?
What models and examples can you look to that may inspire and encourage you to do better in each of your roles?
Quote
“In all the work you are doing, work the best you can.” - the book of Colossians