Friday, December 22, 2023
Could it always be better? Yes, but it never is. People are doing the best they can, where they are. Who knows what’s best? I often see people on the side of the road with cardboard signs asking for help. Did you know that is the best they can do? It’s all they’re capable of. When faced with their circumstances, it’s all their imaginations could drum up – go stand on the corner and ask for change. “Can’t they do better?” If they could, they certainly would, don’t you think? If a child knew better, they’d never get into trouble. No-one would. No-one knows better.
What does improvement look like without the past? Would more make it better? More doesn’t always mean better. Less might mean better. Different might mean better. Nothing at all might mean better. Better is something that each individual has to see for themselves, but not without looking back. That’s why it can always be better. We can’t pin it down in real time.
We must contemplate the elusiveness of better. I often conclude, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” If I had better, and if I knew better, I suppose I’d take it; but I don’t take it because I don’t have it. All I have is this moment, and how it turns out is how it turns out. Better best relates to the past, and the past best relates to the trash. You could have improved what you did yesterday; but you cannot improve what you are doing now. You always seem to be able to do better, but like the future, it’s a conspiracy that never comes. You can’t wrap your mind around better. Maybe it’s all perfect, and we just don’t know it, because we’re lost in the fantasy of trying to improve.