best efforts

i picked up the kettlebells and got today’s program done.

i am in the second week of a StrongBody Challenge. it is far more volume than i generally work, with a 5 day on 2 day off layout. double kettlebell complexes 3x per week.

i didn’t want to do the workout today. i could list all sorts of excuses, but you already know them all. they’ve taunted you too.

so i set two goals before i started:

• get it done
• stay safe while doing it

when i finished, my first thought was: that was not your best effort wendy.

but that wasn’t true.

there’s nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater,you realize that you’ve been missing the whole point of the ocean.    ~ dave barry

i worked, for many years, with stressed and distressed people. poverty. addictions. housing. abuse. marginalization. education. mental health issues. the stresses almost innumerable and so many unfamiliar to me.

in the early years of this work, so much of what i came upon, the context of people’s lives, was far beyond my ken. i am grateful that some wonderfully supportive mentors helped me keep my mind and heart open.

one of the earliest conclusions i came to was that people invariably do the best they can with what they have at that moment. no one puts out less than their best effort. at least i have never witnessed anything less than a person’s best. even when, from most perspectives, the outcome doesn’t look so good.

today i put in my best effort. as i always do. best efforts have a context.

best efforts can look different each day. don’t miss the whole point of them.