Saturday, February 28, 2009

10% Better

This is a great idea from my Brother from another Mother, Larry. It's quite simple: if we all just gave 10% better of ourselves, how much better would the world be?

You've heard coaches say "he gives 110% every time he steps on the field." OK. I thought 100% of anything was, well, 100%. Can't get any better. No way. Not possible. But I challenge anyone to boast about giving it their all every day. Every day? B.S. Double bullshit. It just doesn't happen. We're human, for Christ sake.

I have lived my life trying to make the next day better than the last. How? Be a better person. A better Dad. Husband. Friend. Son. Boss––hate that word, unless we're talking about Bruce. Driver (I have stopped giving people the finger. Honest, Teresa). Listener. Writer––how am I doing?––even if I don't do it every day. And since cancer, making the next day better has taken on a whole new meaning. I mean, just waking up in the morning makes it better for me! Every day is a good day when you're alive.

I have strayed away from that "happy to be alive" feeling. I have allowed work to overcome my person. I'm sure the depressing state of the economy has greatly contributed to me being at least 10% worse. Hopefully it's been only 1% at a time and not 10% percent a day. Then I'd be about minus 100% now. That's scary. Don't want to live through that again, watching cancer eat away at my 100% body.

The great thing about a new day is it's a new chance. A new start. Today. Tomorrow never comes. Yesterday is gone forever. But today, I can do a whole bunch of good things today. I can be funny. Happy. Stupid––hey, being stupid sometimes is liberating. Crazy (in a good way). Loving. Caring. Helpful. Peaceful. Just better.

And 10% at a time is easy to manage.