“Experience is not what happens to you, it’s what you do with what happens to you.” – Aldous Huxley
Red Wagon
My wife’s parents purchased our children a little red Radio Flyer wagon and gave it to us when our children were young. Grandma and Grandpa still had a Radio Flyer in use at the home where my wife grew up. The gift was a rite of passage in their family and we were so pleased to be able to keep that little red wagon flame burning bright. Our kids used it and when they flew the coop we still used it for lots of tasks around our yard, keeping it active, waiting for the day when our grandchildren would be toted around our neighborhood in it. And, about three days ago a similar red wagon story was unexpectedly, twice recited.
An email from Kimberly Norris introduced me to a new friend, Carla Burg. Kimberly is always planting such fostering relationship seeds. It’s her normal practice and they’re always amazing connections, improving both my personal and business life in unexpected ways. This introduction was not an exception.
Carla, it turns out, told me of her experience with Helen Walton, a magnificent person, who was well known in her small town for community involvement and philanthropy, which included a love for beautifying public spaces. Carla’s notable story painted a vibrant picture of Helen and her habit of transporting flowers in her little red Radio Flyer wagon and planting them in the entrance garden of the Benton County Courthouse, on Bentonville Square, just a few short blocks from her home.
In the 1970s, Helen Walton took it upon herself to enhance the appearance of the community’s centerpiece. She added beauty and charm to the town’s center by personally selecting and planting flowers. Perhaps equally as important, Helen offered a Radio-Flyer-led-rite-of-passage for coming generations to model. She shaped a path for continuation of civility and goodness by leading the way for others in a simple, yet impactful way, which is revered this very day.
Later, just hours after Carla shared Helen’s storied example, in another gathering of community minded people, the leader of a new, not for profit endeavor used Helen’s Radio Flyer, flower planting example as the impetus for entering into community service herself. She is “still not ready to give it up” after more than twenty years of self-giving.
Aldous Huxley said, “Experience is not what happens to you, it’s what you do with what happens to you.”
So, I’m passing this “Red Wagon Rite of Passage” to you. And, like my wife’s parents and Helen Walton, it’s what you do with it that matters now and in the future.
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