I better apologize while I have your attention for bringing potty talk on to this blog. But, I can't help but sift through the brain activity that happens as I mother my children.
We are potty training our two-year-old right now. I was cleaning the bathroom and made my round to the toilet. There is nothing pretty about this scene, but it did get me to thinking of days that lie ahead. The image of my 'one day' 4-year-old son came to my mind and a picture of me reminding him to "put the seat down," as he left the bathroom. My mind then traveled to a time of him as a teenager and me not having to remind him but instead telling him, "Thanks for putting the seat down. Your wife will thank you."
I suppose silly things cross my mind in the midst of mundane things such as bathroom responsibilities, but this metaphor has stayed with me through the day. You are probably asking, "what does a toilet seat have to do with life?" Well, it's simple really. It's about responsibility.
As a woman, I can think of countless times I've had to close the lid on a toilet that some guy had (perhaps inadvertently) never closed. It's gross. It's annoying. It's just...rude.
Then I started to think about how in our first year of marriage my husband quickly ascribed to the fact that putting the seat down was something of ...well, a service... to his new wife.
Really, it's true though. There's nothing sweet or kind about leaving something undone for the next in line. There's nothing attractive about someone that has expectations or the 'right to be served' attitude. As much as I want the best for my children, I also don't want life served to them on a silver platter, with a side of arrogance, if you please.
Let me be clear now, this post isn't really about men and toilet seats. No, not at all. It's about leaving things better than you found them. Some times that may mean a bathroom, or maybe a kitchen.
Other times it might mean a life struggling to find hope and meaning.
I'm speaking to myself when I say it's time to stop thinking someone else will do it. Why can't we accept the fact that WE can do it? I think the most beautiful people are people of service. The people who love the unlovely. Of course, Mother Theresa comes to mind. I can see her face in my mind's eye and I have a smile on my face. She emulates beauty. She is far more lovely than any airbrushed face I've ever seen. I can only imagine how heaven would have rejoiced when she finally came home.
This video a friend posted on facebook has stuck with me this week. This speaks about personal responsibility, humility, and service more than mere words can. Let us be the ones who operate in kindness and servitude to others, not self. And by all means, "put the seat down."
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Wonderful perspective on responsibility. I DO walk into the bathroom now and look at the seat down and realize that all those times I reminded myself I was raising a "future husband" is paying off! How little effort it takes to do just a little bit more! BTW my son is 21 years old now and bit by bit I see the training I didn't give up on come through in responsibility and how to treat women (I was a single mom so it was dicey at times!). Was it Paul who said to keep our eyes on the prize? He was right on many levels!
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