Ripples of THE BEST WE CAN!
Ripples of THE BEST WE CAN!
7/24/06: a FREE splash from Paul & The Ripples Project
=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= PEBBLE =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o
The real winners in life are the people who look at every situation
with an expectation that they can make it work or make it better.
-Barbara Pletcher, submitted by Joycelyn F., Reedsburg WI
=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= BOULDER =o=o=o=o=o=o=o
Some days, doing
THE BEST WE CAN
may still fall short of what
we would like to be able to do,
but life isn't perfect--on any front--
and doing what we can with what we have
is the most we should expect
of ourselves
or anyone else.
-Mr. Rogers, submitted by Cindy S., West Bend WI
=o=o=o=o=o=o=o= PONDER =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o
Thanks to several hundred new Ripplers who joined us this week after attending time and stress management workshops on at S.P. Richards' fantastic Las Vegas extravaganza, we are back over 15,000 subscribers! Woohoo!
After exploring many practical techniques, the major hurdle they face is returning home and IMPLEMENTING the strategies they were most excited about. I want this to be a reminder that ANY attempt at experimenting with one small improvement this week could have a big impact on their life and/or work.
I think all 15,000 of us should take a moment right now to close our eyes, take a deep breath, and promise ourselves to do THE BEST WE CAN this week and be proud of our best efforts!
Peace,
Paul
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Hmm ... this is an interesting proposition for me when it comes to academics. I know "the best I can" is most certainly an A in one summer course. I even got straight-A's one semester, but it helped that I dropped a class and thus only had 14 credits (2 from taking Orchestra for credit), so that meant 3 A's. But the thing is my high academic performance has always come with unnecessarily high levels of stress at the expense of any kind of social life - and my happiness. And I'm sick of it. This past year I lowered my standards a bit and found I could be happy - the happiest I've ever been. I'll sacrifice the A's and go for B+'s and A-'s and some extra time with the people I love, doing the things I love.
Maybe the concept of "the best I can" needs to be expanded beyond any one area of life. "The best I can" is not straight-A's all by their lonesome. It's maintaining very good - but not THE BEST - academic standing while also exploring various aspects of myself, my world, and my social networks. Making beautiful music. Writing. Connecting with the Divine. In short, being a whole person. Being a person who does not raise her stress levels beyond what she can handle and still be happy. A person who does not need to be perfect, even if something so near perfection it might as well be called perfection is attainable.
And re-reading those Ripples, I think that's what Paul and the people quoted were talking about. I can do my best, but one of my criteria is that I need to avoid high stress levels, even if that means slightly lower performance. It most certainly means more reasonable expectations.