excellence

There are moments, today is one, where the best I can do is move slowly.

I adore pretty much anything that flows from the hands and mouth of Carrie Lloyd and her podcast and books are some of my favourite things.

She speaks on excellence.

On excellence in a way that does not include striving or battling for identity.

She speaks on excellence in a way that develops your craft, that is enabled by, and expands your character.

Character is something that matters intensely to me. The idea that character is something that defines us, that echos behind us as we move throughout this world. It holds more importance than most things in my life. Someones character can turn me off or draw me in intrigue towards them.

Excellence and character are intrinsically linked and I promise they are linked to my need to move slowly today.

I don’t believe you can do things with excellence without having good character. You cannot have good character without working on your integrity and respecting those around you. To live life with excellence you need to work at it. And working on things often defines ones character.

I wouldn’t be who I am without the years on years of those around me pushing me to examine my own character. I know I have a tendency to give-up, to let my need for perfectionism win and the hatred of failure to define my moments. But I have learnt that giving up doesn’t work, failing is inevitable and that it is how I react and behave in those moments that I am defined, and my character is shaped.

Today I need to move slowly.

I want to give up, because I am tired, because working from the same room I live in is hard and because a new job is weird and I’m never fully sure of not failing. But I choose to move slowly, choose to face head on the potential failures, choosing to move slowly through the tasks on a list, doing them as well as I know how to today. Choosing to work forwards, to work towards the excellence that takes practice and character.

You can be excellence in each day, no matter the moment, no matter the way you feel. You can hold good character in each moment of your life no matter the position you hold or how you feel.

Let your echo be excellence even on your worst day, let your character speak of love and grace, even when you need to move slowly.

R/