I've become so accustomed to opportunity, to having everything within hands reach as soon as I think it - that I won't settle for less. It's hit me now. As I cook dinner at a friends place and things don't go right. The power goes out. There's no grater for the zucchini. Someone scrapes off chopped (chunkily CHOPPED not MINCED!!) garlic into the pan. My trigger thought is "oh no! Now the dinner will suck; the garlic will be too noticeable, and not enough flavour will be extracted out of it. Nothing is prepared in the best way. It won't taste as good as, given the ingredients, it could.
Now that little scenario has got me thinking. One of my life principles is the justification But I just want to get the best of life! I've got to shop until I find the absolute best deal; til I find the best quality kitchen knives at the best special. I want to go on a sunrise-viewing expedition but it must be good weather, and for the experience to be 'worth it', must have selected the optimum location. I would select classes that my friends are in but I have to organise my uni timetable in the way that maximises my freedom for other activities. Because that's the best way. But maybe the problem is all with me. There's a little boy on the other side of the world. He lives in a doorless hut, his single blanket every night is dirty. He doesn't get to choose where he lives and how convenient the location. He eats meals that have no variety, the same day after day. He doesn't get to choose the ingredients of dinner. He doesn't get to choose to go to the best school that offers the most opportunities and future chances. Heck, he'll be jumping for joy if he just gets to participate in school for enough years to receive a certificate! And he won't let what level of goodness he experiences dictate his life, it won't limit him. He doesn't have the best. he gets dished up hardly a fraction above the worst EVERY DAY. This little boy is named Tumusime, and he is my adopted-brother-in-Rwanda.
I'm sure he doesn't always have things the best, in fact I'm sure he hardly every experiences things as nicely as he theoretically could. So maybe having the best is not the point, it's not the priority. In Australia, one of the wealthiest most blessed pieces of land on this planet, we have the resources to do/make everything the very best. But it doesn't mean it's necessary. And it doesn't mean my life needs to be dictated by such a luxurious lifestyle.
I'm sorry, friends. Tonight, dinner will be satisfying, and that's enough. Even if its not the best food that I could ever dream up, it still tastes good.
Things don't always have to be the best.
