The photo is my mug. I want you to see this upon my first blog post on excellence. You can see I'm not perfect. My teeth are crooked, I'm bald, and I have a crooked smile. I'm the perfect illustration of imperfection and yet, I want to be excellent. I have a suspicion that excellence and perfection are not quite the same.

Welcome to the first blog of 365 blog posts on Excellence. Grab a cup of coffee and converse with me. Let's go.



Why am I devoting the balance of my life to exploring excellence? That's a good question. I'll begin by telling you that as I write this blog post (the first of 365 I am going to write over the next year), I am 55, soon to be 56 years old.

If you've ever reached a point in your life when the days behind you out number the days ahead, you'll know what I'm about to say. I don't have much time left. I want to make a difference. I want to make someone's life better because I was created to live for so many years on earth.

Mortality? Yes, that's it. I'm facing my mortality. I'm seeing that there is not much time left and even today could be my only blog post on the subject and God takes me home today. THAT'S why I'm devoting the rest of my life to the study and understanding of excellence.

A Working Definition of Excellence

What is excellence? Here's the working definition I will be starting out with:

"Becoming the fullest expression of your unique, God-given design."

That's what we will be using for the time being. I can't think of a better definition right now. Of course, I'm open to your ideas and thoughts (comment below). Here's how I break this down:

"becoming" - this implies that we will never fully reach pure excellence in this life. We are fallible and we exist in a fallible world. That's why I use an "ing" word. It's the becomING, not the beCOME that's key.

"the fullest expression" - this means the fullest we can possibly be. This is our zone. This is when we are firing on all cylinders and we acknowledge our gifts and see them being played out in the appropriate context.

"unique" - this means there is no one else like you. I have a lot more to say about this but I'll leave it at that for now.

"God-given" - I believe in God. I believe that he send his son to earth to redeem us from our wickedness. It's how I was raised and it's what I've chosen to believe. You may not believe as I do, which is fine. Unless you have a good argument to the contrary, don't research the unbelievable mystery of the human body and the vastness of the galaxies and tell me there isn't a more intelligent being who is our Creator.

"design" - this refers to all the pieces and parts of who we are as individuals. Personality, passions, wants, desires, dislikes, skills, and anything else you can use to describe us.

That's enough for today. Stay tuned for more. 

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