There
is an old saying:
Good,
better, best
Never
let it rest
Get
your good, better,
And
you’re better, best.
I
needed to take my new horse, Angel, to the vet to get her teeth checked because
she was thin and had continued to lose weight after the move to New Mexico.
Although I had taken some time to get her trailer loading functional (“good
enough”) before we left Colorado, it was not very good. (See the article, "Fearful Angel."
I
set aside a couple of hours prior to the departure for the vet to make sure
that I could have her loading confidently. I set to the task. It took almost
half an hour before she would load with little hesitation, but I still needed
the help of a long rope looped through a ring near the manger to keep her nose
in the right direction. (She was very distractible and kept wanting to look
back at JoyFull in the pen.)
I
knew it was “good enough” to get us the clinic, but had doubts about getting
her loaded to come back home without another training session at the vet
clinic. Instead of dropping the subject with her, I let her have a break and
then kept reapproaching the subject. Anytime she gave me a bigger try, I’d take
her for another break or give her a bite of hay. We kept this up for another
hour until she was loading with vigor and staying in longer and longer and even
relaxing enough to nibble hay in the trailer. When it was time to go, she
loaded better than JoyFull both going to the vet and coming home.
What
if I had stopped when it was “good enough”? The problem with “good enough” is
that it often leads to forgetfulness. We forget about working on it until the
next time the skill is needed. Then we discovery that it is not “good enough”
any more and we must take more time to work on it again. It is the old
situation of not taking the time it takes to cement the behavior, so you have
to take the time to do it over and over and over again. In fact, if the need
arises irregularly, the skill may never be mastered or the project finished.
This
applies to people and their lives as well. What are you tolerating in your life
that is “good enough” instead of putting forth you best effort?
Work
performance?
House
cleaning or organization?
Weight
loss?
Fitness?
Spiritual
life?
Financial
fitness?
Relationships?
Your
calling or purpose?
“Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”
Colossians
3:23 NIV
If
you knew you were working for the God of the universe, what would you do
differently?
You
are, you know!
