Take Care of It and It Will Take Care of You
I used to be part of a local cycling team.
Every Tuesday and Thursday the team met for a 40-mile bike ride.
There was an individual on the team — not the best, but certainly up there — who had a presence about him.
He was a leader.
When he spoke, people paid attention.
Or, maybe I should say, when he spoke, I paid attention.
One evening, while stopped on a bridge as someone in the group was fixing a flat tire, I was parked next to him.
“Man, your bike is so clean!” I said to him.
In the way he did, he simply said, “take care of it and it will take care of you.”
This was over 12 years ago.
It’s always stuck with me
At first, directly related to my bike.
Then I started to see that simple quip applied to so many things.
I guess: a life precept.
About a year ago, I wrote a blog talking about lawn care — about consistency.
It’s almost July so I suppose, in the midst of lawn care season, it’s only fitting to provide an update.
And attempt to make a connection.
We moved into our first home September 2023.
When it comes to lawn care, we had our work cut out for us.
That fall, I got to work.
Not knowing what I was doing, I have fond memories of walking the lawn with Ezekiel pulling out weeds and showing each other the size of the roots each of the weeds had.
Week after week, I did a bit here and a bit there.
Before the first snowfall, a layer of grass seed and even some fall fertilizer.
As the snow melted after our first winter in the house, and spring came around, the same thing: a bit here and a bit there.
Into the summer…
Consistency.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
By the start of last summer, we had witnessed quite a transformation.
I kept at it all through the summer and into the fall.
This spring, the process started again.
Consistency.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
In about 2 years times, we’ve had a radical transformation in our yard.
I took these pictures earlier this week the morning after a fresh mow.
I guess this is just a little sequential story in power of having certain precepts that guide what you do.
For me, take care of it and it will take care of youhas proved helpful.
With my bike.
And with our lawn.
I think it’s a pretty good precent, and as I start to apply it, it seems to have a pretty far reach.
A relationship.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
Work.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
A goal.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
The body.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
The mind.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
Perhaps at the end of the day, it’s just a nice little way to immerse yourself in the process and allow the outcome to emerge simply through diligent attendance.
Onward.