“Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.”
Proverbs 22:29
Excellence is something rare. It is doing something extremely well, not just getting the job done; but doing it to such a degree that people will stop and notice. Excellence sparks appetite in those who are watching. It brings excitement to the task that is so often viewed only as mundane, routine, and frustrating.
Excellence is noticed.
People want to stay and linger when excellence can be witnessed firsthand. Excellence means you really believe in what you are doing, and as you do it, others are convinced of what you are doing as well. I want to be excellent. I want to be excellent for myself and for my God. I want to do my job in such a way that people will linger to watch. I want to be excellent in relationships — stop offering polite conversation for polite conversation’s sake — but to speak truth in every whisper, cry and yell.
I want to be excellent in my connection with God. I want to be earnest in prayer, so when I pray I know God has heard. Or study the Bible to the point where I read it like the love letter it is. As Mortimer Adler once said, “Lovers read love letters for all they are worth. They read every word three ways. They read between the lines and margins…They perceive the color of words, the order of phrases, and the weight of sentences.” Whoever thought you could read with excellence? Lovers do!
I want to be excellent because I know that I haven’t been. At so many levels I am slip-shod, throw-it-together, “Get ‘er done”, and do it quick. I have been doing it like this for years; and mainly for one purpose, “So I can relax.” If I want to be excellent I must begin to see relaxing as my enemy.
Relax says I am done being or needing to do more to be better or excellent. Is relaxing wrong? It depends on what I want to be excellent in. Even as I write this piece, I am not so sure I mean it — am I doing it to just get it done? Am I writing just to write? Existing to exist? Just getting by? Or am I writing because I really, really, really believe what I am writing? Excellence always asks why.
Is life to just get through or is it to make a difference? Is relaxing the pinnacle of existence? Or is creating something new, affecting the life of a friend, trying to do my work better so people will stop and notice, why I am here? What brings more honor to God: A man on the couch? Or a man in his study, workshop, front yard connecting with his kids?
If life is moving too fast, I think we need to start changing the speed. I think life moves faster for the people whose only goal is to relax. People who want to relax just want to get stuff over with. They never feel like they have had enough time to relax, so they have to get the next thing over with so they can relax some more. Relaxing is like a black-hole; once you do it you want to do it more. Never enjoying the moment — only wanting it to be over makes for a quick life.
When you don’t enjoy your work, your kids, your devotions, life flies by because those times are never recorded in the memory maker of your brain which places value on time. Life goes fast because you let life go by. But excellence savors each moment, even the time you once considered as a waste. All of life has potential — not just the weekend.
Is life stressful? I find it is if you are just trying to get by. Why not aim for excellence?
– Do things differently. Inject newness, freshness, a different pattern in the routine. I think we don’t try to be or do things different because we are stopped by the threat of disapproval or failure. Never let the phrase, “It’s the way we have always done it,” become the rule for why you do what you do.
– Be interesting, don’t aim to be subtle, be noticed. Know that people don’t really care as much as you think they do. People would rather you try and fail noticeably than spreading more stale unnoticed boredom around.
– Spark appetite.
Can a person really be excellent? Or am I too old? I am too old not to at least try…I am dying soon so why not make some waves? Or do I want to go into eternity boasting about my relaxing?
In the movie “Cool Hand Luke” the main actor was a strange man. He enjoyed bringing excitement to the mundane. In one scene he was on a chain gain and his job was to throw sand on newly laid asphalt. It was a terrible job, especially when the workers had to spread the sand in 90-degree heat. For most of the men, it was sheer misery. But “Cool Hand Luke” decided to bring newness and freshness to the moment. He decided to smile, throw sand as fast as he could and run to the next spot. The other workers at first thought he was crazy, but he kept on going — he didn’t care what they thought. His excitement started catching on until every last guy was running, smiling and feeling alive.
That was a weird kind of excellence — but that is what I want to be this year. Weirdly excellent. Will you join me?
