You Did Great!

Anisa Salleh / February 23, 2018, 15:02:12 pm

Imagine the Great Pyramid of Giza, standing high and proud at Egypt for nearly four thousand years ago. Imagine a clock, ticking away second by second. Now what do both have in common? What can possibly a great pyramid have in common with clocks that we can see everyday and nearly everywhere?

Both consists of small parts, various parts that then form a magnificent entity.

A pyramid cannot possibly be built without all the small bricks that are combined which then form one of The Seven Wonders of Ancient World. A clock cannot possibly function well if one of its parts are broken or missing. Various things in this world are made up of smaller units of things.

The same way of thinking or concept should be applied to ourselves. Namely, our efforts and responsibilities.

“Do your best” is a common phrase used to encourage others in doing something and it usually works. However, it can be a double-edged sword in certain situations. When things do not work out as we expected, being disappointed is a common emotion to feel. But some people will start blaming themselves for it and start to think that what they did is a waste of time. That it is all useless and things might be better if they just gave up at the very beginning.

That is not it.

Doing our best does not mean that we have to push ourselves to the extent that we will get hurt. It does not mean that we have to be harsh and strict with ourselves to the point that we ignore our own well-being.

Doing our best means that we gave it our best shot and we do what we can do without hurting ourselves. Our effort is valid. Even if it is not as good as others, it is still valid, just like the small bricks that eventually become the majestic pyramid. It is completely fine if we do not do as much as others. They are not us and our contribution are just as important.

Take a deep breath and think back on what we had accomplished all this time. Sometimes we need time to actually appreciate ourselves and compliment ourselves on the things that we had done even if it did not work out that well. We gave it a try and that is something. To regret doing something at first is better that regretting not doing it for a lifetime.

We all have our weaknesses, our own talents and our own limits. That makes sense since we are all different individuals with different backgrounds. Thus, the things that we can do and are actually good at naturally might be something that someone else is trying hard to master. Vice versa, the things that other people can do might be something that is hard for us.

But we have to remember, human have a unique thing that is granted to us by Him. We have our mind, we can think compared to animals that only have instincts to rely on. And with it, we can improve ourselves in various aspects such as the skill to talk in front of a huge crowd. With our brain, we can learn and be a better person compared to who we are yesterday. Therefore, it is not the end if we lose today. Tomorrow still holds a lot of possibilities. Strengthen your will and fight on.

There are times when we feel like the effort that we had exerted for something is not as significant as others. There are times when we feel like, even if we do not do our part of the task, everything is going to be just as usual.

Stop thinking like that. Snap out of that way of thinking. Stop thinking that our effort is not as significant as others.

Instead, focuses on what we had done and if we think that it is not the best that we can do, improve it. But never think that our effort is useless and not worth it. We did great.