Leadership from a different perspective – Steve Pauley

Naked Leader Week – 230 (w/c Monday 22 October 2007)

Leadership from a different perspective – Steve Pauley

The Simplicity of Life

 A family friend died recently.  He was a jolly, kind, warm and generous man who everybody loved.  It was standing room only at his funeral.

 He died on my mother’s birthday. His death was sudden and a big shock.  The morning he died, he had phoned my mother to wish her a happy birthday and was laughing and joking.  There was no indication there was anything wrong.

 That lunchtime he and his wife joined some friends at a local pub for lunch. He was relaxed and happy.  After lunch, his wife went to see a friend and he decided to cut his lawn.  When his wife returned home two hours later, she thought it strange that the grass was half finished.  She was horrified to find him dead in the hallway of their home.

 This got me thinking about the simplicity of life.  We spend so much of our time worrying about trivia, looking to progress and get ahead, to acquire more wealth and material goods. However, at the end, in that moment, our life amounts to very simple things such as a half finished lawn – how rich you are, what possessions you have or how successful you have been do not matter.

 I took this experience as a teaching and a reminder to make the most of every day and to view it as a gift. To be present and take opportunities because life is short and in the end it amounts to things such as a half finished lawn.

David – Please note my mum’s birthday is October 3^rd – the death occurred on 3/10/2006

Stephen Pauley