When I was in grade school, I joined quiz bee’s, declamation contests and other inter-school activities without telling my parents. I will only tell (and surprise) them when I already have the award to show. Those were the days when things are simple and all you cared for was to make special people in your life happy and proud. I know that every time I handed them those medals, my heart silently said, ‘Because you are worthy of my best.’
Then as we grow old, things become more difficult and complex. The enormous responsibility we carry on our shoulders are always weighing us down, we do things just because we have to do it and have quite forgotten the reason why we are doing these things in the first place.
I reflect on this because I am particularly dragging myself to do one task for many months. But last night, I resolved that I will do it not because I have to do it, but because the person who’s asking me to do it is someone I value. Because that person is worthy of my best.
When things become difficult, when tasks become a routine, when people around us become ordinary, we have somehow forgotten to give our best. We have somehow taken for granted putting attention to details and sprinkling an element of love to what we do.
So today I reminded myself that the next time I prepare a cup of coffee for a friend, I will choose the perfect mug, the perfect blend, the perfect corner where we can have a good conversation, because that person is worthy of my best.
The next time I write that email, or prepare that report, or chair that meeting, I will make sure that it represents my best, because it is who I am and who I should be.
The next time I become too critical of others, and of life, I will be that forgiving and understanding, because being the best also means having a gentle heart.
The next time I will find myself in the midst of life’s battle, I will look up at the heavens, find my parents, ask them to bless me, and then I will do my best, because they continue to be worthy of my best.
Today, let us ask God for this special grace, that the next time we do something, especially when it is difficult or inconvenient, we think of that person we do it for, and say, ‘Because you are worthy of my best.’
