Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Perplexing Question

Perplexing Question

Blogging, like anything else, is about discipline. You simply have to do one every day or risk breaking the habit and falling out of the routine. Even when I am distracted by the press of other compelling needs I try and find time to crank one out even if the effort falls somewhat below my personal standard. (Whatever that Is.)

One of the questions I asked my students in the pre-course survey was if they agreed or disagreed with the following question. “All things worth doing are not doing well?”

This blog is a sort of take on that question. The submission has to fit the time available and as a consequence does not go to the depth and length and “Profoundness” of some of the other efforts…..Does that mean I should not have bothered at all. I think that many writers think that way and simply don’t write if they think they have nothing worthy to write about.

My father would have answered the question indignantly with the response….”If you are not going to do the job right then don’t bother…“
I know where he was coming from and for years I subscribed rigidly to that philosophy. Then I became responsible for a large organization that was hugely overcommitted and under resourced. There were certain responsibilities I had that would get me fired if they went unfulfilled and others that could be handed a lick and a kiss. Then there were the actions that I felt were necessary to the long term health of the organization.

You see what I’m getting at here? Time is a resource, so is energy, so is the capacity of your brain….not to mention money…. As people enjoy success the world increasingly heaps demands upon those with the talent to make it all happen until eventually life’s demands exceed the ability of a person to get them all done……at least to the standard we would like to operate at.

Thus the question….“Are all things worth doing worth doing well?“ Are there times when it is better to do something a little half-assed than ignore it altogether?. Are there times when a little grease is better than no grease at all?

Every day I look at all the requirements I have and dole out the recourses accordingly. My father would be appalled at some of the corners I cut and perhaps I would do better to just do nothing than the little I do in some areas. Is it just me or do others struggle with the answer to this perplexing question?