Photo by Jam Adams
I was at my local library recently, just browsing the shelves, when an interesting book title caught my eye: “Being, Nothingness, and Fly Fishing”
The book is subtitled, “How One Man Gave Up Everything To Fish The Fabled Waters Of The West”
Intrigued, I picked up the book and read the inside flap of the dust jacket. It mentions that in book’s introduction, the author, while writing about a particular river, wrote: “The North Umpqua makes me want to be a better fly fisherman.”
I needed some context for such a bold statement, so I flipped to the introduction and found the actual quote. The full paragraph reads:
“Never do I fish as attentively as when I’m on the North Umpqua. I feel I owe the river the very best I have to offer, after all, the river has given its very best to me. The North Umpqua makes me want to be a better fly fisherman.”
Have you ever felt this way about anything? Do you have any things in your life that make you want to be a better person?
- Does the special person in your life make you want to be a better partner?
- Does your job make you want to be a better employee or your company make you want to be a better entrepreneur?
- What about your car? Does it make you want to be a better driver?
Is there anything in your life that would make you say: “I owe this the very best that I have to offer!”
In my role as a life coach for personal development, I frequently meet people who think they are “stuck”. Often, the truth of the matter isn’t that they’re stuck, it’s that they just haven’t found something that demands the very best they have to offer – something that makes them want to be a better person.
Well, what if the answer isn’t something outside of yourself? What if it’s not a person or a thing?
What about your life itself?
Please humor me for a minute… just for fun – imagine that you woke up tomorrow with the feeling that you owe your life the very best you have to offer!
What would that day look like to you?
What would it sound like?
Imagine living like that for just one day! How would that feel?
How To Be A Better Person – An Experiment
Now I’d like to propose something. I’d like to propose that you make up your mind, right here and now, to actually do this tomorrow – just as an experiment. You don’t have to tell anyone what you’re up to, you don’t have to recruit others to do it with you and you don’t need to make a big deal out of it. Just wake up with the attitude that no matter what happens throughout the day, you are going to give your life the very best you have to offer! You are going to live your life in a way that makes you want to be a better person.
Be forewarned, this new approach could change everything!
(Seriously, once you try this please come back and tell us about your amazing day by posting in the comments section.)
The Blogging Blog
I love your inspiration but I really feel the need to write this: How can you be the best wife, mother, teacher, mentor, daughter, sister, worker, friend, chef, housecleaner, billpayer, taxicab driver, socialogist, psycologist, seamstress, driver, listener, walker, bather, President, CFO and CEO all at the same time. Too many burdens right now to be a better person.
Sometimes you have to suck at being the above just to get your point accross – LOL
It’s bot a competition, and we don’t have to excel in all fields! it’s more about giving the best YOU can in any one moment. Sometimes we are tired or stressed . under par – but we still have the choice to do the most we can to bring out our qualities. It doesn’t mean spending more energy than we have, rather making the most, and learning from any situation. We shouldn’t expect to be perfect, however, and letting go of imperfection and “mistakes” is just as fundamental to our well-being. I generally find that there is more capacity for being a noble and happy person than – I think when times are hard.
We can’t expect things to always go our way. Obstacles are solutions.
Look at figures in history who never gave in to pressures that could have resulted in loss of humanity – Gandhi, Martin Luther King – they all suffered huge hardships but recognized the unfailing spirit.
It is not about trying to be the best, it is about doing better
But you don’t have to be the best mom, wife, teacher, mentor etc. you just have to be the BEST YOU. :)
Hi Patrick. I believe that becoming a better person is great, when it’s done for the right reasons. If you are striving to be better to become more well rounded, then go for it.
But if you want to be a better person just because you don’t like who you are right now, then you would need to change your mindset before you can strive towards becoming that better person.
Thank you for posting this plan for action, it was great.
I tried this and it actually helped me alot. I was in a wonderful mood all day no matter what and didnt get in to any arguements or such
you guys are really changing peoples’s lives. may God bless you all
I’m going to try this tomorrow, I have so much negativity in my life. I just stopped and thought about it, I’m being a terrible, selfish person, my parents, my brother they don’t deserve this.
What a wonderful simple experiment that everyone should try, conscious living. Being the best you can be isn’t easy so I hope you don’t mind me sharing another wonderful free resource that actually takes you through the “How to”, Venus Cow.
All the very best and thank you.