An aging man lived alone in Ireland. Spring arrived. He needed to dig up his garden and plant potatoes. But it was extraordinarily hard work, and he had no one to help him. His only son, who had assisted him across the years, was in prison for bank robbery. The old man wrote a letter to his son, in which he mentioned his predicament. Shortly thereafter, he received this reply: “For heaven’s sake, dad, do not dig up that garden! It’s where I hid the money.” At 4:00 a.m. the next morning, a team of police arrived and plowed up the entire garden looking for the stolen money. But to their surprise, they didn’t find a penny. Confused about all that had transpired, the old man wrote another letter to his son, telling him what had happened and asking him what to do next. The son wrote back: “Dad, now you need to plant your potatoes. Getting the garden dug up for you was the best I could do from here!”
“The best I could do from here ….” That’s really all that is required of any of us. It is both a lofty challenge and, at the same time, a reasonable request. On the one hand, I should never settle for making half-hearted investments (in life, love, relationships, work, care for others or self-care). On the other hand, I should never expect more from myself than I am equipped to give or than I would expect from anyone else. When the shadows fall, I don’t want to think I could have done more nor do I want to feel guilt from not accomplishing things I was never designed to accomplish in the first place. “The best I could do from here” is enough.
Stacey King died last week. He played basketball, was the national Player of the Year while a university student at Oklahoma, after that was a member of the Chicago Bulls when they won three successive NBA championships, and, later was a sports commentator on radio and TV. King used to tell about “the night Michael Jordan and I combined to score 70 points in a single game. Michael scored 69, and I added 1.” It was a funny line and also a true story. What he failed to note, of course, was that as the 6’11” tall center of the Bulls, King played outstanding defense – he grabbed rebounds and fed the ball to Jordan for 3-pointers – he set picks allowing Jordan to drive to the basket – and, he made a unique contribution that no one else on the team could have made in quite the same way. It took both of them (and the other players on the team, as well) to achieve victory. He did what he was equipped to do, and that was enough.
So, what are you equipped to do? You – not somebody else. What do you have to offer to the world? What brings you joy? It is pointless to be intimidated by the gifts others possess. If truth be known, many of them would probably envy what you can do that they cannot. You’ve heard the Latin phrase, “Nosce te ipsum.” It means: “Be true to yourself.” Be who you are. Because you are the only you that has ever been or will ever be. Our task, therefore, is simply to be the best version of ourselves that we possibly can. Then, we leave it up to others to do the rest.
“Nosce te ipsum.” That is enough.
