No matter how hard we try, sometimes our best is just not enough…and that is okay!
Well folks, it’s down to the wire. It is now Saturday night, and the last hope I have of getting a post ready for Sunday morning. And…I got nothing.
Oh, it didn’t start that way. I had several promising ideas, but when I sat in front of the computer and tried to make them come to life I was confronted with a series of writer’s block, mediocre products, and frustration. The sheer angst of it all. Not really, but in truth it has been more than a bit challenging.
But perhaps these challenges serve a purpose and allude to the message for this week.
No matter how hard we try, sometimes our best is just not enough…and that is okay!
All my type A personalities, go-getters, driven ones, and the ‘by god, it’s on the list so it has to get done’ types, you clearly need to hear this. But so too do the type B personalities, the laid-back peeps, and the ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ types.
We have all been there. You try your best, your very best, and for one reason or another it just simply isn’t happening. Your back is up against a wall, the clock is ticking, and in your heart of hearts, you know you will not be crossing that finish line.
Lessons abound in doing your thing successfully (and with flair), but character is shaped by what happens when life does not go your way.
Lessons need to be engrained to stick, and how is that done? By repetition, training, immersion. I mean, did any of us learn long division or cursive the first time it was shown to us? No, it took lesson after lesson to stick.
Character, however, is formed from the fire. And generally speaking, once your character is formed, it is increasingly difficult for it to change. Not impossible, just difficult.
If you were to consciously choose whether to get a lesson or a character defining opportunity—character should be what we strive for. The hard part is that character is formed when you do not get your way, and most of us do not like undergoing those experiences. And yet without it, we are rudderless against a storm, unable to know when to tack the sails or change course.
Now, back to the instance of life not cooperating and therefore not going along with your preconceived notion of how it should turn out.
Breathe.
You did your best, and that is enough.
You are enough.
Maybe it is not your time. Maybe it is not meant to be. Or maybe you are meant for greater things. Every effort, intentional or not, throws ripples into your life and the lives of others. Have you ever thrown rocks into a lake and watched the ripples expand ever larger? What happens when multiple rocks are thrown, and the ripples expand outward but also over one another? When the rocks differ in size, how do the ripples interact?
What have you learned?
Do you need to slow down for a spell? Are you headed in a direction that is best for you? Should you continue this path? How do you respond with grace and kindness? Why did this not work out?
Above all, remember to be kind to yourself.
It is okay to fail. It is okay to take a different route. It is okay to change your mind, and then change it back again. It is okay to do your best and for it to not work out.
If you start with acknowledging your struggles (like losing your wits trying to write a half decent post), maybe you will find out the real message was waiting for you there all along, mired in your shortcomings.
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