Be kind and always do your best

In the first chapter of the book, "Writing Down the Bones " , the author (Natalie Goldberg) says the best advice she ever received and the best you could ever give to others was, to "be kind and always do your best".

This has in fact been stuck in my mind for several months now.

As perfectionists, I think it is perilous territory how we perceive the latter part of that message and it is indeed the combination of the two that matters.

Being kind- to ourselves, to others and to the planet, is that motivation which keeps us honest, and gentle, and grounded. It is that concept which keeps our work good and our actions beneficial and healthy.

Doing your best- will you define that as winning the race? winning the competition? being the prettiest girl at the ball?

that is the dangerous part of the concept.

Doing your best is doing YOUR best. And YOUR best changes from day to day (ala Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements). If you are tired, your best may be less than the day you have slept well and can do more. If you have just broken up with the love of your life, your best may indeed be very very little. But, if you still do YOUR best, each and every day, you will keep the wheels of your life turning and go to bed each day knowing you did a good job and can be satisfied that you did. Because doing your best is not necessarily tied to actions, or what others see, but IS ALSO being true to yourself, your beliefs and your needs as well.

What matters is not winning the race, but the way you perform and live your life across the journey as a whole.

Being kind, slowly and with patience and grace, and doing your best to be kind, day after day, is how we transform ourselves, our world, and each other.

i would encourage my readers to visit this other blog which I have recently had brought to my attention and have been enjoying:

http://kindnessmattersalways.blogspot.com