When I was a missionary, "less effective" was the euphemism of choice to describe those moments when we made a mess of things. It was a nice way of saying "that was one of the dumbest things you could have done/said, but there's still a sliver of hope that you'll do better next time." The subtext: Perhaps, someday, you'll even approach effective!
Although I've been home from my mission over ten years now, I still struggle with effective living. As evidence, here's a few recent examples:
- I must have been very, very tired after attending a rip-roaring Halloween party on Saturday night 'cuz I didn't gain consciousness until 10:24 a.m. Sunday morning. Even when I try, I can never sleep past 9:00 and I had set my alarm -- to no avail. Since church starts at 11:00 and the chapel is a 20 minute drive from my house, I threw on some clothes in a mad flurry and rushed out the door (taking time to put on my brand-new, albeit very cheap, earrings and necklace). Of course, I was supposed to teach a lesson for the 2 year-olds in nursery and naturally, I had planned to prepare it in the morning. Nursery was crazy -- especially my pseudo-lesson -- but we all survived. When the last child was handed over to her parents, I went to put on my coat. But alas, my coat was nowhere to be found. It eventually occurred to me that I had left my coat in the chapel and the woman I had been sitting next to might have picked it up. Sure enough. My coat had gotten tossed in with the pile of the other family's coats and was now at her house -- with my keys in the pocket. So, my poor friend had to drive back to the church to deliver my coat and keys. Whew! Finally I could go home and restart the day. But as the crowning touch I discovered that a) I had a rotten banana in my bag leftover from last week's nursery snack and b) both of my new earrings and fallen out at some point and were gone and lost forever. Less effective!
- Last night, I cycled 10 miles on my stationary bike -- while I munched on chocolate. (I'm not kidding.) Less effective!
- On a particularly frustrating and treacherous writing day, I managed to sit in front of my computer for several hours and wrote one paragraph. Less effective!
My grand conclusion: I am effectively inept. Three cheers for those of us still struggling with the fundamentals of earth life!
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2 comments:
Well the way I see it the working out gave you the right to eat the chocolate and you can be sure you already burned it off!
Here, here. I am currently living in a constant state of less-effectiveness.
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