Doing Our Best
Doing Our Best
Every so often each of us makes a determined commitment to challenge ourselves to do better; to be better. We declare we are going to make changes in our lives. These changes can include everything from weight loss, being a more aware parent, getting more exercise, volunteering in a foreign land or any other significant life altering choice. The list of possibilities is endless. Armed with our determination we start a new day, a new year with the will and desire to succeed. For some of us our goal comes to fruition. For many of us our good intentions erode with time and we see ourselves as failing to live up to our inspired ideals.
The desire to be a better person or to achieve a life goal is embedded in who we are as human beings. The quick self-judgment of our failure to do so is a learned response.
As children consciously and unconsciously our parents and others of influence embedded in us a series of values and beliefs and expectations about our being and about our behaviour. Often their voices linger in our minds and jump up to whisper in our ear that we should do better.
When we read or hear about the awe-inspiring actions and accomplishments of others this self deprecation simply becomes more intense. We all fantasize about our heroines and heroes. We try to imagine ourselves being able to do what they have done and fail. We demean ourselves even further. Usually this cycle continues off and on throughout our lives. Still we continue to "try" and be better.
What do you think would happen if we simply stopped "trying" and instead spent our life "doing our best" in each moment of each day, joyfully and effortlessly?
I may want to have the passion of Martin Luther King, the dedication of Mother Teresa, the tenacity of Mandela and the reach of Oprah Winfrey. The reality is I am none of these people. I am uniquely me. You are uniquely you. We have been given this gift of uniqueness. Becoming aware of our individual gifts and our humanness simultaneously is the "eureka" moment.
I have recently met a marvelous human being who has been inspiring several women in her world with her humanness and her gifts. Her name is Crystal. She is a single mom of a teenage son and holds down a full time job. She has had a life much tougher than some of us will ever know. She is funny, articulate, dramatic and deeply passionate. We attend a 7:30a.m. Saturday Weight Watchers meeting together. Each week she expresses the ups and downs of her life and tells a story that each of us can relate to simply about what being alive is all about. Recently she enrolled part time in university. This has been a life-long dream that is now beginning to come true. She shares her fears over an up-coming exam and then the joy of getting an "A". She is slowly losing the excess pounds she has carried and is becoming more aware every day. She is living her life and sharing it with us. What she brings to us is inspirational in its joyful passion to be better and to do more, balanced with the awareness that we are all simply human.
In our humanness we goof up all the time. We get it right some days and not others. We control our temper until we don't. We stick to our diet until we don't. We are tolerant until we aren't. It is called being human.
Each of us has our own unique potential, our own unique contribution to make. What we have to give to the world isn't about size or scope. It is about our ability to effortlessly share our talents with others and do the best we can each day. Spontaneously giving someone a needed hug or making a delicious meal for friends is as significant as leading a nation to freedom. It is the intention of love and giving to ourselves and others.
Some days we are under the weather and our best that day will not be the same as the day when we are alert and focused. Doing our best and what is our "best" shifts with all the contexts we face as we live out our lives. In the end it is not about "trying" it is about "doing" and doing our best is more than enough to change our world.