Day 64: Always, Always Do Your Best

The majority of the comments about my blog you don’t see. Most of them are sent to me personally, although I would strongly encourage the commentators to share it here where all can see. Why? Because so much can be learned through a conversation, and you just never know where your words will land upon someone else. Sometimes it is your words, not mine, that help and make all the difference to someone else. There is power in collective thinking and sharing. Two heads truly is better than one.

Sharing thoughts with each other is what I am looking to create – an open sharing conversation where everyone can contribute. Words are like ripples on the pond, they don’t just affect me, they are far reaching. If something inspires you, say so. If something bothers you, say so. It is okay here. It is safe. I am not here to judge, and comments can always be done anonymously. Just as I tell the students I teach, the learning and the value is in the engaging and the participation. I actually WANT to hear your opinions and what you have to say. And of course, for anything I deem inappropriate I would certainly have enough discernment not to post.

So with that prelude, I would like to talk about a comment I received from another great friend of mine whom I love dearly, and I know loves me too. I don’t ever mention names here as to protect people and their privacy, so I am hoping he doesn’t mind. I am sure I will find out tomorrow.

Anyway, I received the comment from above said friend, which kind of struck me the wrong way. Luckily I know him well enough to know that he has the best of intentions, but admittedly I got offended and hurt when I read it. Well at first anyway. Apparently after reading a few of my posts his perception was that I was rushed and didn’t care about my blog and that I should spend more time on it if I wanted people to read it and take it more seriously….which obviously I do. And although I got angry and offended when I first read it and it took me a day to let it pass over, I am actually very grateful that he sent it and expressed how he felt. Why? Because there is a lesson in it.

That is the beauty of life…there is always a lesson if you are willing to see past the surface of what you see, to what you do not see.

So the lesson this time around was about “doing your best.” I actually live by the motto, “Always, always do your best.” I was raised that way. I remember coming home from school during report card time with some subject marks as less than I would like them to be at, and then showing my report card to my mom. She would look at it, and I would be feeling bad and disappointed in myself, thinking she would be disappointed in me as well but she wasn’t. My mom was a forward thinker, and ahead of the game in those days. Instead she asked me, “Did you do your best?” I said, “Yeah”. To which she replied, “Then that is enough.” And that was that.

So I wrote back to my well intentioned friend…who I want to point out was NOT wrong by the way, nor was he right…just missing the information necessary to see the big picture. He was right in saying that some of my posts were of lesser quality than others; they were. But it wasn’t because I didn’t care. I can assure you that everything I write here is written with 100% heart and all of me in it…and it is always, always, ALWAYS me at my best. This blog is my baby and I dedicate a LOT of time to it; often staying up until 2am or 4am writing it…even when I am tired and sick, or don’t feel like it or have writer’s block. It is tougher than you think some days, but I do it anyway. I do it because I love it, and I do it because I made a commitment. My best however will change from day to day. My best on good days will obviously surpass my best on sick days. It is only natural for it to change from day today, and moment to moment. My best today may look like less than yesterday, but if I say that I gave it my all and did my best, then I did my best. Trying to ask for more would be like trying to draw blood from a stone.

I am reminded of a brilliant quote from a very influential book I read last year by Don Miguel Ruiz. The book is called “The Four Agreements”. It is a powerful little book that changed the way I looked at things. Anyway, the quote goes like this:

“Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.”

Smart man.

Before I go I just want to say thank you dear friend, for being the inspiration for tonight’s post. Sometimes you are the inspired, and sometimes the inspirer.