Not Half-assed

It’s guru time. The guru has arrived. He speaks.

Welcome!

It is great to be seen by you today and for you to see one another.

My life was half-assed. I did just enough to get by.

Sometimes I did less than enough and then still got by.

We like to say we gave it 100%, maybe to obfuscate the guilt.

We like to say we gave it our all.

Do we? Did we?

Maybe.

Mostly probably not.

Our actions may form the paradigms of our lives.

I went to tryouts for little league baseball. This is an embarrassing, but true, story.

I went, but I didn’t try out. I passed ball with a then friend. Ever have a “then friend”? My father was a pro level pitcher who was scouted and recruited by the Pittsburgh Pirates but turned them down. Baseball didn’t pay so much in the 1940s.

LSL

Long story longer, I didn’t make the team. Why? I didn’t even show up. The effort was less than half-assed and the reward matched the effort.

This same principle of not showing up repeated. I didn’t make all-state band because I didn’t show up at all for that one.

I didn’t get a part in a show in Las Vegas because I didn’t audition, even though I was there for it.

Half-assed efforts produce half-assed results (or worse). We never hear the term “whole-assed”, do we?

Some people say they gave 110%. Bullshit! You don’t have 110%, so there’s no point in lying about it. Sometimes what is half-assed for you is well beyond others’ best efforts.

Nobody gives 100%. There is always more potential. Is there a limit?

Well, that’s up to you to find out.

I did sing in a show in Las Vegas, though. 180 times, then put together my own act. It wasn’t half-assed or whole-assed. It was good enough to work without getting fired and get paid. Professional.

Self-imposed Limitations

Most limits are of our own creation.

You can argue with your buts and ifs and your blame games and self-deprecating remarks in hopes that you put yourself down before someone else gets the chance.

We usually have a concept that is self-limiting.

We must be realistic!

We must be rational and logical and practical and pragmatic and avoid anything that can appear to look delusional, right?

Again, BULLSHIT!

There was a painter who was more than half-assed. He had some advice.

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.“

With a glib and numb mind, we pass over those words, tacitly agree, nodding our heads, and take nothing away from this.

Michelangelo was a prolific painter and sculptor.

He sculpted the Pieta in Rome and the David in Florence, painted the Sistine Chapel’s ceilings and even designed the dome for St. Peter’s Basilica, to name a few.

His standards for his work speak in the works themselves. He stated that he was “not a great painter”. His opinion of his painting was not one with whom others have agreed. Was it humility? Maybe. I wasn’t there and neither were you.

He once copied a sculpture, an ancient one and passed it off as his own. This might sound like forgery, but much can be learned by emulating the works of others. If ever there were an effective shortcut, this may be a key.

Perfect Isn’t Professional

Perfect is an imperfect word. It exists as a word only. Everyone has their own concept or definition of perfect. It is difficult to define. It doesn’t exist. It is more a feeling than a state of things.

Don’t worry, a critic can always find something wrong. A critic should do an introspection a few times a day.

Professional means it is good enough to get paid for it. It is a range, not a precise measurable state. A licensed professional is tested before being licensed. This still is not perfect. 70% is passing on a state board test, usually.

I passed a few state board tests: Board of Architecture, Contractor’s Board, and Insurance. I didn’t study for the tests in architecture or building. Was that half-assed? The scores were between mid 80s and 90s. Insurance? that was a hard test. Was I half-assed if I passed? It was good enough. It was not perfect.

Forget perfect.

Professional is easier than a nebulous fleeting thought, flying off like a cirrus cloud after a hurricane.

Exit guru.