During the summers of my childhood, I took great joy in playing Little League softball. Before every game, sometimes three nights a week, we’d stand on the chalked line, facing the flag. We’d sing the National Anthem, and then we would recite the Little League pledge.
It went like this:
“I trust in God. I love my country and will respect its laws. I will play fair and strive to win. But win or lose, I will always do my best.”
I will always do my best.
This wasn’t the first time I heard this concept. I was raised on this idea. My parents instilled this notion that I should always do my best no matter what I was doing, be it washing the dishes or taking a science test.
Here is the thing about doing our best.
It is a big world out there. Currently, there seems like a lot is going wrong. Inequality. Injustice. The destruction of our planet’s health. Food insecurity. Unstable economy. Failing health care systems. Pandemic threats. And on and on.
Personally, (and I know many people share this thought) I feel like there is something “big” I should be doing to make things better. I often try to figure out something I could do that might significantly impact these problems. If not all, at least one. And when I don’t, I experience feelings of guilt or failure.
But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that it isn’t always easy to meet the expectations we hold ourselves to. And when this happens, when we “fail” in our self-assigned criteria, our sense of peace is diminished.
Here is another thing. We are all different. We each have a unique set of life skills and talents. So. While one person may be cut out to find a cure for cancer, another person might be greatly adept at fixing cars, or planting gardens, or working on computers. Some people are given the great ability to perform duties in the public. Others are better left to work on their own.
So, what I’ve come to find out is this. Doing our life work is what we are really meant to do. We should find our ambitions, our talents, our gifts, and do our best with them. These things may not include finding a solution for global warming, or curing Alzheimer’s.
The things that we are meant to do come in many shapes and sizes. Their significance is not to be measured by us, or anyone else. It is simply our life work that is close to our spiritual selves. It is at the center of our spiritual equilibrium. And treating it with care will bring us life’s greatest success — the cultivation of our spiritual journey.
We do our best in this. And doing our best is more than “good enough.” It is exactly right. Big or small.
And when we achieve this measure, we are doing our part to make this world a better place. Because we have become better people, and that effect will impact everything, and everyone we touch. Each and every day.
So I say that childhood pledge, again and again.
“I will always do my best.”
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“Like what you do, and then you will do your best.”
— Katherine Johnson
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“Don’t beat yourself up for what you couldn’t do, or didn’t do. Just do the best you can now, now, and now.”
― Akiroq Brost
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“The best thing to do now, is to do the very best you can.”
― Allen Drury, Into What Far Harbor?
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