The Best You Can Do
<!—-><!—-> <!—->
A few weeks back we had company, an old friend. I was showing him a dining table that I had just completed. The table had come out quite nice. Made of antique cypress it had beautiful grain and the finish made it stand out. “Wow”, he said, “this must be your masterpiece, it must be the best thing you’ve ever done.” Well after thanking him my head began to swell. However after he and his wife left I started thinking (I always get into trouble when I think). The best I’ve ever done? Will I never do anything better? How about things I’ve done in the past? How about the birdhouse I made as a little boy, wasn’t that the best I had ever done? Over the years I have always tried to do my best. I always pray for God to guide my hands. So I guess every project I do is the best I have ever done. If you do your personal best everything you do is the best you’ve ever done. And always remember a swollen head will get you nothing but a headache. Just a thought.
<!—-><!—->
ZABO
Edited 1/6/2006 6:22 pm ET by ZABO
Replies
<And always remember a swollen head will get you nothing but a headache.>
......and a large hat.......
I find that every time I start thinking quite a lot of myself in regards to work that I do in my
shop, I almost always do something disastrously stupid and that brings reality right down
on my swollen head resulting in an immediate deflation.
Ron
So I guess every project I do is the best I have ever done...
I 'think' I do nice work... HOWEVER.. I always remember the 'mistakes' I made.. I have never had somebody say 'I don't like it' BUT.. Wish they did sometimes so I would know what is wrong in their minds..
Just me
Hi ZABO and All ,
The Stickley Bros. had a saying that I believe the company still may use . It was something like "Alsikan" alls I can , the meaning is that they / we will do things to the best of our ability .
I would wager to say that most of us do try to execute our craft to the best of our ability . We constantly learn and improve the way we do things and ultimately our efforts are seen in our works .
Even though our levels of abilities are different , if we do the best we are capable of , then we will not disappoint ourselves .
Pleasing others , that is an entirely larger can of worms so to speak . Communicating and making sure all understands what to expect from the finished product before beginning any commissions for others is time spent wisely , and may avoid unrealistic expectations .
About 15 years ago I realized I was not solely the master of my own vessel , and I was not doing this work myself . Without sounding overly religious my feeling is even after 30 years of professional experience , I am being guided and am not working alone so to speak .
If you built another bird house you may do it differently , would it be better ?
Would the end users think you did a better job ?
regards dusty
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled