Taking my own advice...

Yesterday Marty was working on his "paper bag book report". You are supposed to put things into the bag that represent the book you read and then explain why you chose those specific items and how they relate to the story - I assume it's a version of an oral book report. I walked into the kitchen and saw him taping a piece of paper onto the bag with a picture he had scribbled in about a minute. I asked him if he was finished and he said "Yea, I did it really fast because I didn't want to miss Mythbusters". So I asked him "Did you do it to pass or did you do it to the best of your ability"? He stopped and looked at me with a blank stare (he really loves Mythbusters) and he said "I just wanted to finish". Needless to say, we started over again and he missed his favorite program.

This morning I was thinking about our conversation and I asked myself "Are you living your life to just pass or are you doing it to the best of your ability"? I think some days I'm just trying to pass but others I throw my entire self into life - I don't think I've accomplished the "best of my ability" thing yet.

Even though I'm exhausted every night I think there is a lot more I could be doing. More for my fellow man, for the environment, for my children's future. I watched a movie that a good blogger friend of mine recommended, Tapped (Thanks Victoria!!) and decided I would stop buying plastic containers whenever I could - not an easy task if you really think about how much plastic there is. We don't recycle (gasp!) because I never thought we had that much recycling and there is no pickup where we live. There is, however, a collection bin right next to the preschool where I work - I guess I'll be visiting that more often.

I don't need to leave a big mark on the world, I'm not that ambitious. I only hope that on my last day when Marty asks me, I can say "Yes, I did it to the best of my ability".

Kathy