Set It Up For The Next Guy

Setting It Up for the Next Guy

I often need reminders to be patient.

I also need reminders to stay light-hearted, balanced, and human.

So I return to a simple inner practice—one that gently pulls me back to doing my best, without harshness or self-judgment. I picture myself looking into a reflection of me at an elderly age. Not a judgment day filled with regrets or mistakes, but a moment of honest reckoning. A meeting between who I am now and who I will one day become.

That old man isn’t asking whether I was perfect.

He isn’t keeping score.

He’s simply asking: Did you show up? Did you live in alignment with what mattered? Did you do your part?

This reflection connects me to where I am on my own journey and to what is being asked of me now—so that when I meet him, I can look into his eyes with loyalty, peace, and contentment. Knowing I lived this lifetime in a way that honored the soul that carries on. Knowing I helped set it up for the next guy.

At the end of the day—at the end of my life—I want to be able to look into my own eyes and into the eyes of those around me and feel settled. Content that I tried, sincerely and imperfectly, to support others with wisdom. That I shared what I’ve learned about how our thoughts and actions shape the quality of our experiences. That I helped illuminate the mind-body connection and how awareness can soften suffering.

Not because I had all the answers—but because I cared enough to offer presence, insight, and truth where I could.

To know that I did my very best to advance my soul toward freedom from suffering.

To know I lived in service—not from obligation, but from love.

May I live a life rooted in love and respect.

May all relationships be fueled by kindness, compassion, and truth.

May I set it up for the next guy.

The old man in the mirror is you.

What story do you want to tell when you meet him/her?

You can never go wrong leading with an open heart.