Everyone is just Doing their Best

I’m not sure about you, but 2014 has been a pretty intense year so far. I got married on my 30^th Birthday to an incredible man, said incredible man got promoted, we became residents of Australia and my Grandmother very sadly passed away in July.

This change has made itself clear through the ‘big’ events in my life, but what about the day-to-day, moment-by-moment occurrences?

Well, recently I’ve been a little bit all over the place. Lots of changes in my working schedule have meant a huge body-clock knock and also a bit of a change-up in how I work. This has also meant a big change in my how I choose to honour my self-care practices and myself, but here’s the thing…

…I’ve been so focused on trying to make it seem as though I’m breezing through this huge change-up that my self-care practices have gone completely out the window. I’m eating at strange times, not sleeping properly and seem to have heaped a whole load of unnecessary pressure on myself. Having completely healed myself from a 10-year illness with severe M.E. (or CFS/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), these practices have become absolutely fundamental to how I live my life. So what’s changed?

My perfectionist, type-A tendencies have started to creep in again- I want to have my cake and it eat it too. I want everyone to know that I’m knocking the ball out the park, but truth be told, they really couldn’t care less. They’re got their own things to worry about.

Amongst all the struggles and curveballs that life throw at us, we are all doing our best. Everyone. Everyone is doing their best.

This doesn’t mean that your best is the same every single day. Sometimes, I cram as much in as I can and still have room for more, while at other times, all I want to do is just be alone and have a nice cup of tea. Unfortunately, as a classroom teacher, I expect others to give their best every second of each lesson as well, but in truth, they’re only human…as am I. Most of the time, I have no idea what struggles my students are facing outside of the classroom, just as we don’t know what people are facing away from that split second or few moments we spend with them.

Your best is not the same as someone else’s best. Their best fluctuates as well, so don’t compare yourself to that snapshot you have of that person on that day at that moment. You might be doing them, and yourself, a disservice. This is especially poignant in our Photoshopped, Instagrammed world, where we often make snap judgements on people based on a single photos or update.

Think about where you are being too hard on yourself and others- are your perfectionist/got-to-do-it-all tendencies impacting the way you see yourself and those around you? Are you really being fair? Could you cut yourself slack?

At the end of the day…

“Always Do Your Best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.” – Miguel Angel Ruiz

About the Author:

Katie Manning is a teacher, mentor and writer, and the creator of the blog, ‘Conquering Fear Spiritually’. The blog documents the steps she took to completely heal herself of a 10- year illness with M.E./CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). After being free of the illness of over four years, Katie inspires others to take control of their own healing journey and live healthy, peaceful lives, free from chronic illness.