Do Your Best With What You Know; When You KNOW Better, DO Better!

I originally had something else in mind when I came to write a post today... in fact, I wrote almost a complete post about "aloneness" before scrapping the whole thing because it felt somewhat trite and flat.

Sometimes the words flow OK, but the meaning is lost somewhere in the expressing.

I was raised with the idea that we should always do our best.

Of the many things my parents tried to imprint on me, it's one of the few lifelessons I have always taken with me. Along the way, I have softened it a little on the grounds that "our best" is generally limited by our knowledge and wisdom... and thus might have it's limitations within the context of the greater world.

But we can still try our best.

And — hopefully — we learn something on our journeys through life and that learning enables us to improve "our best." We end up doing better, because we know better.

We're not static.

One of the "confines" of my existence has often been that I have no particularly great natural talents, and few "gifts" that were bestowed on me, simply as a result of being alive. I don't even have any particularly great skills; and sometimes I end up working extremely hard at something and still not "doing better."

The one thing I do have — that many others do not, at least not to the same degree — is my propensity for relentlessness.

Stated a little differently: I might not be able to do better, but I can keep going with something and stick to it for a really long time.

Of course, some folks have pointed out to me that such stick-to-it-iveness can be to your detriment, rather than your benefit... and that can definitely be true. I tend to be "loyal to a fault," where "fault" really comes into play!

"Awareness" definitely comes into play, there...

There was a time when I was married for 13 years... but the relationship actually had ended after maybe five years. Good discernment would dictate that when you're done you actually choose to be done.

But hey... "when you KNOW better, you DO better," right?

And so, life is a long string of teaching moments... and it's up to us to learn the lessons because there's a really good chance that they will be repeated — over and over — until we finally get the message.

I remain loyal to a fault... but at least I have learned to keep my eyes open!

Which brings up the all-important concept of discernment.

What do you agree to get yourself into? Did you think about what you agreed to, and practice due diligence in examining the situation before agreeing to it?

Sometimes we think friends would never lead us astray because they are friends, you know? And perhaps they are not aware that they are leading you astray because were they are leading is perfect for them, but they are unaware that you are a completely different person.

Hence, due diligence. And remember that "no" is a complete sentence!

Maybe this is something we learn with age: Just because a friend recommends something (or someONE!) doesn't mean they know what we need... and blindly following them my not lead us to "doing better."

In the meantime, the onus is on us to do our best... with what we know. And to be gentle with ourselves when it turns out that we didn't know something. Because it's inevitable that we will have dodgy moments when we crash and burn!

And so, here we are, at the end of a post that's clearly a little more meaningful than my original idea. Doing better.

It matters. Keep learning!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

How about you? Do you always do your best? Are you always open to learning, and to doing better? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.04.03 00:50 PDT
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