Tues Ten 051209: Showing Up

“Decisions are made by those who show up.”

The statement is variously attributed to Woody Allen and Aaron Sorkin, most memorably quoted by Mr. Sorkin’s fictional President Bartlett in the first season finale of The West Wing television program (I’m a huge fan.) It’s been a rallying cry for political and social involvement with Generation XYZ for the last few election cycles. It resonates in the language of my “coming of age.”

I have been thinking about the statement lately, however, in my more seasoned continual process of coming of age. I wonder if “showing up” is really enough. For sure, showing up is a definite prerequisite for getting yourself in a position to make decisions.  But, I’m not convinced that just being there makes you a decision-maker.  An element of the “bring it” vernacular of the Y and Z end of those generations seems important.

Just showing up for life doesn’t really work for me. There’s a level of engagement, of paying attention, that I want to characterize my short time on this earth–my short time of greatest affect on the three gifts God has given me to raise, my short time of interacting as other lives brush against mine, my short time of capitalizing on my version of the sphere of influence inherent in every life. No, showing up just doesn’t cover it. Showing up with no quality of experience is an incredible waste. Better is the “this worldliness” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in my last eye opening quote. Better is a life lived unreserved. An unreserved, unsaved life is a life spent. My goal is to spend it wisely. For this week’s Tuesday Ten, I share a few personal caveats to “showing up.”

Decisions are made by those who show up…

1. and aren’t napping.
(because dreams are realized when you’re awake.)

2. and don’t lollygag in the bathroom taking care of their own business.
(because minding your own business is highly overrated.)

3. to listen.
(because that’s how you learn.)

4. to speak.
(because that’s how you teach.)

5. without a bunch of stuff in their hands.
(so they can pick up someone else’s load.)

6. with their Blackberries turned off.
(because the most important conversation is the one you’re having face to face.)

7. because they had it on their calendar.
(and planned their day around it.)

8. with Cokes and cookies for everyone.
(because decisions are easier on a full stomach.)

9. ready to move boxes.
(because clutter gets in the way.)

10. and hang around to clean up afterwards.
(because you don’t really understand a mess until you make it your job to clean it up.)