"My wish isn't to mean everything to everyone but simply to mean something to someone."
In a recent note to his friends Dale Dauten wrote of three wishes.
I really hope he doesn't mind me taking the liberty of editing his words for space. Well old buddy from one curmudgeon to another ~ Thanks.
"I wish that you get to hire extraordinary people and when they are asked how it is to work at your company they smile and say, "Cool."
"I wish for you that when business goes down and the slope slips, you don't. When an employee comes to you and says, "These numbers look awful, but we could fudge a little right here on this line and forget to report this account and then they'd look okay." You give them that tight smile and hard eye and say, "No, we'll either figure it out or tough it out," and your employee looks at you with relief and admiration and says, "I was hoping that was what you'd say."
"I wish that when you start to think about retiring that your coworkers are horrified. And I wish for you that when you're old you have a mild heart attack, where everyone prays for you and comes to visit and they all realize how much they love you. And when, after a long healthy life, you die, I wish that everyone says, "THAT was a life well lived" and then, every so often, when things are tough, they think of you and smile, and try one more thing, and that's the one that works."
As always Dan, a thoughtful and inspiring blog. The word legacy has been much on my mind lately and although in earlier times I hoped to touch millions, my goals have been revised downward. I realize now that touching fewer people more intimately is every bit as good, if not better, than touching millions superficially.
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