Leave it better than you found it.

I went backpacking with a few friends recently. As ethical campers, we all follow the ‘leave no trace’ principles. In short, leave nature as you found it. 

Not everyone follows these rules though. On this particular trip, we stumbled on multiple plastic bottles strewn alongside the Pacific Ocean. We had a choice: we could do the inconvenient work and pick up the plastic bottles, or pretend we didn’t see them and keep walking.

We chose the former, and eventually we hiked out with plastic bottles hanging from our backpacks (and properly disposed of them). It wasn’t what we wanted to do in the moment, but I’m glad we did.

This whole experience got me thinking about life and relationships. Whether a parent, child, partner, manager, or friend - perhaps it would be nice if we didn't ever deal with some of the messes that inevitably shows up in our relationships, especially when it doesn’t seem to be our fault or doing. And yet, like strewn plastic bottles along an otherwise pristine beach, someone else’s emotional stuff will surface at inconvenient times… maybe even when we feel we’re on cloud 9.

It's in those moments where we have a choice to turn away and leave it as is, or to turn towards and make it better. 

It turns out that trust is built in those tiny moments when we offer something as simple as a smile or just create space to listen and make someone feel understood. Turning towards the difficult stuff isn’t always easy, but it actually makes things a lot better for everyone, including you. 

The reminder in all of this is also simple. Whether it’s a hiking trail, a relationship, or just how you live your life - it’s not necessarily best to leave no trace.

Leave it better than you found it.