Being Our Best

From my archive....

 

"When people are at their very best, that's who they really are."

-Rev. Alfred Horrigan 

 

Yesterday morning I was not at my best.  It usually takes me a few days to adjust to the time change.  When I arrived at work I suddenly felt like I was running on fumes.  It was a hectic morning and I was a little grumpy.  I wasn’t demonstrating my usual patience and everything was getting on my nerves.  People who are around me most days know I don’t normally act like this.  Later in the day I realized that one reason I felt so depleted was that I spent much of my weekend with my granddaughter.  We went to a movie but that was the easy part.  We also played on the floor and she rode on my shoulders like Queen Cleopatra riding her barge down the Nile river.  Although these physical activities can be tough for a man in his sixties, a deeper truth is that one of the ways I am at my very best is when I am in my Paw Paw role.  When I am tired, feeling overwhelmed, and it seems like I am being assaulted from every direction, I am not always at my best.  When I feel this way the best thing for me to do is step back, breathe, and regain my center.  I don’t like to feel this way.  I don’t enjoy being grumpy.  However, and probably to the amazement of some people who think I walk on water, I am a human being like the rest of you.  I try to be the best version of who I am but some days it just isn’t happening.  I assume everyone else is trying too so when they are not at their best I try to cut them some slack.  I believe we are all doing the best we can but we’re not successful 100% of the time.  This is why the Dalai Lama continuously preaches the message of kindness and compassion.  We all need it sometimes and we should practice it all of the time.