My Best Isn't Good Enough...

It's an idea that I never thought to give words to. We don't realize it, but when we say "we'll do our best", we automatically put a limit on ourselves. Think about it...

At that moment, you don't know what your best is. But, whatever the outcome, you've already declared it to be your "best". So, for better or worse, you believe it to be so. And in your mind, you set a limit: "at my best, I miss the game-winning shot", "at my best, I pass with a B", etc.

Yet, how many times after the fact do we look back and say, "If I had done this differently, I would have come out better"? So, on one hand we say we give our "best"; on the other hand, we find room for improvement. The two ideas can't both be right.

I'm not gonna lie to ya; I use the term "best" to create room for myself to err. Like, when I tell somebody "I'll do my best", that means, "I probably won't/don't really want to do what you asked me to, but I'll try just enough to say I that attempted it". The effect: if I come up short, the person is caught up in the fact that I "gave it my all" more so than I failed.

(It seems a little dirty... except, most of the time, I find that people hang around people too much based on what they can do and not enough based on who they are. And then, I don't feel so bad about it...)

Perhaps a "best" doesn't actually exist. Perhaps "best" is a word that we should reserve--- maybe a word that only exists--- for when we are comparing things: if you have more than two objects and you are comparing them, you have a best of the group. that's all. Outside of that, "best" doesn't exist.

This is how I live my life; I don't believe in my own best. If I was ever at my "best", I'd be perfect; but perfection is impossible in our world and in our present states. However, if something needs to be done, I simply say, "I'll get it done", and do it. And at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

As long as I don't believe in my best, there's always room for me to grow and expand. And I'll just keep getting better and better without ever actually getting "there". But you shouldn't see it so sadly; you forget that getting "there" is not the reason we're here. "There" is something that only God Himself can give us access to. It's all about what we accomplish while we have the time. We literally "try our best" without "doing our best". See the difference? The first is about reaching towards something; the other is about reaching it. Life is an unending reach toward something better.

I Try B-J