Popular thoughts on my mind... and in my public journal:

... at this specific point in time.

A yoga instructor at Jivamukti said this once. When she said it, I was completely perplexed. I pondered this sentence for a few weeks. It simply didn't make sense to me. "Most people rarely do their best, in fact they're usually doing a mediocre job" I kept saying to myself.

And then it hit me.

Do most people approach a task and actually try to do it poorly? I would argue that that is rarely the case; for even if they did, it is a conscious decision they made... and they will likely try to succeed at doing the task poorly.

In either case, reminding myself of that sentence has allowed me to take situations that would normally enrage me and turn them into pleasant situations. Most people laugh when I say that. It has been argued that in most situations, those words "they are doing their best" are factually incorrect because:

- most people can do better & are choosing not to

and that:

- I'm creating an excuse for them and their life situation
- I'm accepting something that should be unacceptable
- by doing so I am lowering standards

Focusing on the words in such a restrictive manner is to look but not to see. "They are doing their best" is more about what the words do to you - the person who thinks of them - than what they mean about the person the words are meant to describe. By thinking a positive thought, you immediately approach the situation with a positive attitude. Having a positive attitude will almost always increase your chances of successfully achieving your own goal - and can help get the person you're interacting with one step closer to getting out of their "funk".

If someone is performing in a below-average way, it's often because they are in "funk". Without sounding too esoteric, they have bad energy - they are carrying bad baggage. When you respond with a negative attitude, you are allowing your response to be dictated by them and their bad energy; rather than your own positivity. And in turn, you begin to generate your own bad baggage/energy.

It has been said that a more correct/appropriate phrase would be, "they aren't performing their best, and must be shown that they can perform better". This phrase breaks two rules of how to interact with people.
1. You can't change people - you can only change yourself.
2. By starting a thought with a negative connotation "they aren't..." immediately puts you in a negative state of mind - dooming any chance of improving the situation.

By telling yourself, "they are doing their best" you immediately think good thoughts. And if you qualify that statement by adding, "at this point in time" - you are allowing yourself to consider - if you think their performance is below where it "could" be - why they're performing the way they are... and how you must react in order to respond appropriately. Otherwise your only reaction will be to lash out - and no one wins in that scenario.