Give it your best shot

hopeful of a good result.
From what the young man said, I concluded that he was satisfied with the preparations he had made and how he had applied that knowledge to answer questions in the given time under examination pressure.
As a mother, I marvelled at the wealth of wisdom in his words.
I thought how much these simple words could transform the landscape of the way people handle and discharge their duties and responsibilities in all spheres of life.
In my view to give your best shot is to apply yourself fully and whole-heartedly to something for the best possible result.
It is about total commitment and excellence. The giving of all as denoted by scripture in Mark 10 which says “thou shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”
This is the kind of spirit that pushes us not only to do the best but to exceed expectation regardless of circumstances.
The biblical Rebekah strikes me as a model of excellence as she performed beyond expectation.
When asked for water at the well by Abraham’s servant who had been sent to get a wife for Isaac, Rebekah did the unexpected.
She also watered his camels with each taking up to 25 gallons of water. What strikes me is that she had to go down and up the well several times fetching water until all the camels were watered.
I think you agree with me that what Rebekah did was not an easy task, yet she did not waver from her commitment.
As a result her effort was rewarded as she got to marry Isaac, the child of the covenant. Perhaps it is only with hindsight that most people would have done what Rebekah did the first time around.
As Ann Landers says “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so many people don’t recognise them.”
I think it is important to view every opportunity that we get to do something as a time to do the best that we can as if there might never be another chance.
We have to learn to do what we have to do when we still can.
As Oliver Mtukudzi says in one of his songs, “Pangu pose ndasakura ndazunza ini, zvasariremi . . .”
This is basically a challenge that he poses to others after he has done everything which needed to be done.
So often we do things half-heartedly but live to wish for another chance to improve on what we did the first time. Unfortunately those opportunities are rare in life.
There is a story that is often used by preachers or teachers that demonstrates the importance of doing the best and right thing all the time.
Workers on a farm were tasked by the farmer to slaughter a cow that got stuck in the mud.
They were to slaughter the beast and bring everything to the farmer.
Each worker had a choice on what to carry back to his/her employer. So each one did according to how she/he felt and interpreted the task before them.
Some carried the heavy meaty portions while others chose to carry horns and hooves. Those who felt they were being used carried those portions that made their burden lighter and did everything out of a sense of duty.
There was panic and regret when each worker was told to take home whatever he/she was holding.
Imagine having to go home with horns where there was a fat chance of getting free meat that could have probably meant days of good balanced meals.
Often we miss many chances in life due to our attitudes to work.
As Ann Landers says “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so many people don’t recognise them.”
I believe many people, especially the younger generation, missed a number of opportunities considering the attitude to work.
I think you agree with me that the work culture is dying slowly due to the quick fixes common in our world.
Giving your best shot requires focus on a target, concentration on a goal and the necessary action.
In view of this, it is better to look back despite how things turn out to be and say I did the best that I could do.
Often we get people who do not recognise what you would have done. They shoot you down by their words, attitudes and actions.
Do not lose heart because of them; consider them necessary as they stretch us to our greatest potential.
What is important is to have that conviction that you have given it your best shot.
William Arthur Ward says that “The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.”
Dear reader, as my Grade Six teacher used to say, let us “do the best thing at the right time at the right place.”
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