For better or for worse, this is the important question we face each day. How can I make things that matter better? How are my actions and decisions going to affect my circumstance?
Here the measure must be my own experience, and my own circumstance. Maybe I can cook up a pretty good omelette, and this skill made me a minor hero one morning on a group camp out. Instead of cold cereal or greasy scrambled eggs, everyone is enjoying a delicious fluffy omelette filled with interesting ingredients of their choice. This breakfast was better! Pretty cool feeling – making a difference in the lives of those around me. A great experience. I remember my recent participation in a made up basketball/waterpolo game with kids at camp – it was a blast – we had fun and the day was better! Well these experiences could easily be ruined by comparison beyond my own experience or circumstance.
Given our access to all the world through the Internet and media, it’s very easy to find other people whose specific experience and circumstance make our own feel insignificant or unworthy by comparison. My camp out omelette cooking is crude and boring compared to that of a celebrity chef. My basketball skills are moronic compared to star athletes. So, my performance will always be worse when compared to somebody out there in the world. This a a good way to get de-motivated and depressed, and to rob the joy and meaning form you own life experience.
Clearly the answer is to ask the important question – for better or for worse? What actions can I take today to make things better, compared to my own prior experience? That’s it. Pretty simple. Now get out there and make something better than yesterday, and stop doing things that make it worse. And I bet Wolfgang Puck’s omelettes aren’t really as great as the hype would portend!
Ben Wagner (197)
Member The 365 Commitment
