“Life is a miracle. Alas, a deeply challenging and royally frustrating miracle at times, but a miracle nonetheless. So courageously do your imperfect best, each and every day, to allow more love, joy, creativity, satisfaction, service and wholehearted appreciation of yourself and others into this miracle you’ve been given.”
These are the words I’d give to a robust 15 year old who is the picture of brilliant health, same as I would to a 92 year old in hospice care, weary after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Sure, the 15 year old can probably afford to waste a great many days and still have an abundance of them left over for when it comes time to get down to the real business of living. Certainly, she has plenty of time to be bored, to roll her eyes at life, and sit on the sidelines feeling cheated, thanks to the cards she was dealt.
BUT why would that 15 year old want to waste ANY of her days? If she could be shown the importance of bringing as much quality to each day as she possibly could, her capacity for creation would be practically boundless. Who knows how many people she could impact? Who knows how much more enjoyable the awkward transitional period she finds herself in could actually be?
Maybe it doesn’t make sense that I would give the same advice to the 92 year old who’s clock is noisily ticking. Why would I recommend he bring the most to each day? Why would I recommend he find small ways to be of service? After all, he’s lived more than nine decades. Hasn’t he already done more than enough service? Yet, I believe that even if he can find the smallest way to be of service to others, even if it’s simply smiling at the nurse when they enter the room, he will not only spread warmth and kindness but he might lift his own spirits.
For the rest of us, trust me, I know it’s tempting to wait until tomorrow. In all likelihood, there are going to be an abundance of tomorrows.
BUT just because there’s likely to be an abundance of something, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t treasure each little bit of it.
I’ll give a sugary sweet example: If you’ve known me long enough, you know I LOVE monster cookies! I also have a favorite cookie shop in town where I have access to as many fresh monster cookies as money can buy. It’s paradise! But, although this example may sound a bit silly, I do my imperfect best to be present and treasure every bite, every little bit of chocolatey, ooey gooey, scrumptious monster cookie as I eat it. If I knew I had a second or a third to eat following the one in my hand, I may not enjoy the current bite in my mouth in quite the same way. I could potentially go through my days and years without ever truly savoring my monster cookie, which would just be a crying shame in my book.
So my challenge to both you and me is to savor each day as though it’s the most magnificent one yet. So long as we’re both drawing breath, why wouldn’t we strive to live as fully as we can?
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JASON FREEMAN is a Professional Speaker and the proud owner of a Speech Impediment. He is also the author of “Awkwardly Awesome: Embracing My Imperfect Best” and a Perseverance Coach.
He excites and encourages his audience to break through the barriers of their own limitations using a method he created, called “Doing your Imperfect Best ™”.
His Imperfect TEDx Talk can be viewed here.
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