Give the World the Best!

“Give the world the best that you have, and the best will come back to you.” – Madeline Bridges. My post today is based on going the extra mile!

My sister relates a story of a huge tree that fell down right in front of her driveway. She was asleep when it happened and raining very hard so she never heard a sound. Right in the middle of the night when her son let her know what had occurred, they realized that they couldn’t get out of the house because the huge tree was blocking the entrance.  

 

My sister needed to take her early morning flight back to Panama the next day so after trying to figure out a way to cut those branches from the tree they discovered that it was next to impossible to do without the proper tools. At that point, my sister thought of one fellow, Sr. Cristino, who has a bakery business right on the corner of her house and had told her that if she ever needed anything, he would be available. My sister had no other option than to call him around 1:00 a.m. He was in bed sound asleep but got up and came over. He not only helped her cut those branches so she could get out of the house but waited until it was daylight to make sure everyone was fine. He clearly went the extra mile. He could have easily said, “I am sorry but I don’t have the right tools to help you,” and that would have been fine but he managed a way to find the right tools to help the situation and stayed to illuminate the way for my sister to be able to leave her house. Amazing!

I LOVE people like Sr. Cristino who are trying to do more than was required of them and trying to do better than was expected – It is like a little challenge we all need to apply every day to try and do better than you ever thought you could. It will make your life feel like an exciting adventure! These quotes come to mind when I think of people like Sr. Cristino.

“No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.” – Charles Francis Adams

 “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill

and “Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.”– Og Mandino

I am a big fan of people who go the extra mile in life! Too often these days you see people who seem content to just do the bare minimum. I don`t think I will ever understand that mentality. I grew up in a home where both my parents were going a million miles an hour every day – my mom with her many businesses to care for and my father working crazy hard managing three radio stations and that is why I don’t understand how some people have the mentality of doing the very minimum required to get by.

There was no such thing as doing the minimum to get by from my mom and dad. I suppose as a teenager I thought everyone should relax and not work so much, but now as an adult I look back and I am so grateful to have been raised with the mentality of working hard and going the extra mile in all that you do. 

My husband is a believer in this saying: “Don’t over compromise and under deliver.” or “Always give people more than they expect to get. – Nelson Broswell or “The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does “– Napoleon Hill Just think – if you go the extra mile every day of your life you will have gone further than you could have ever imagined!   And you will never regret the extra effort you put in as this quote describes it so eloquently: “This is the true joy in life – being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. ~George Bernard Shaw

If you’re going to do anything in life than give it 110%!  Don’t do it with 50% energy – that will never make you feel good about yourself.  If you are going to conquer a task then give it all you’ve got.  And always, do just a little bit more and go just a little bit farther than anyone expected you to!  

It is the best feeling in the world when you know you’ve gone the extra mile.  And when you do give that extra little mile in all that you do, everyone around you will notice it and they will stand in admiration at the great job you have done so well done Sr. Cristino, you should be so proud!

Con amor,

Vero