The Best of Times

A question that has been buzzing around in my head is "when is your best not the best?". Have you ever done anything to the best of your ability, and then either been put down, or thought that the result was pants in comparison to others? After last nights football, the Chelsea players are probably feeling that these are the worst of times, but most of them appeared to give their all. I hope that they can reflect back at some stage and think yes I did my best, and be pleased by that. I know personally, I often feel that my best is not much, when I compare myself to the talents of those around me. In fact I sometimes feel that others are judging me by their apparent so much better standards. Both of these negative thought patterns need to be banished, but that is easier said than done, as we like to think our efforts are appreciated. The truth to cling onto, is that God made us all unique. There is no one else exactly like me, which is probably a good thing. We were all given different talents with which to work. My strength is not your strength and vice versa. We are not all "good" at the same thing, even if we share the same passion. What matters is we do whatever we are doing to the best of our own ability. If at the end of the day, I can say I honestly gave it my all, and approached the tasks in hand with the right attitude, then surely I can also say that these are the best of times. At the day of judgement, God is not going to say did you do your best compared to so and so, but did you do your best with the talents I gave you? So as hard as it is at times, we must stop beating ourselves up over differences which we can not change.