Tinder – Kindling - Fuel

Picture it – Friday night, heading out of town, dreaming of a mammoth bonfire to address my growing pile of branches and rotting logs.  I stop at the local gas station for a couple of “Shoppers” – the local, printed want ads – a dying entity I know but a great source of “firestarting” paper if you catch my drift.  I toss my bag into the corner of the cabin, grab a couple of beers from the fridge and a box of wooden matches and head out to the waiting brush pile…   I crumble a few “Shopper” pages into balls, top with small sticks, and layer with the branches – spark the match and a blazing fire ensues…   WRONG!  In my dreams maybe!   The paper blazes and lights a few of the small sticks but ultimately peters out.  I stuff in a few more “Shopper” balls which keeps my hopes alive but not the mammoth bonfire.   After a few unsuccessful attempts and growing frustration, I decide to build the fire the right way.

I angrily push my pile to the side and start again – with the proper foundation this time!  I follow The Essentials of a Wood Fire: Tinder, Kindling, Fuel on premierfirewoodcompany.com and an enjoyable and productive bonfire follows…EVERYTIME!  Fool-proof!  Frustration-less (if that is even a word)!  The question is – WHY do I do this to myself? Why do a half-hearted effort only to end up frustrated, when I know that success comes from following a proven process and building off of a firm foundation?

This reminds me of the Parable of the Sower, in the Christian gospels.  Per Wikipedia.com, Jesus tells of a farmer who sows seeds indiscriminately. 

 Some seed falls on the path (wayside) with no soil, some on rocky ground with little soil, some on soil which contains thorns, and some on good soil. In the first case, the seed is taken away; in the second and third soils, the seed fails to produce a crop; but when it falls on good soil, it grows and yields thirty-, sixty-, or a hundred-fold

Its proven – isn’t it?  Build on a firm foundation, and if the foundation is not sound – knock ‘er down and start again.

I have a friend – we’ll call him Phil to protect the innocent – whose mantra is, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing excellently.”   Similar to the Mercedes Benz slogan “The best or nothing.”   I argue that “good enough” is good enough for some tasks.  When I am facing a daunting task and I am likely to take the easy way out, my wife will give me the ol’, “How would Phil do it?”  In other words – this task is worth doing excellently!  I am curious – what is YOUR tendency and philosophy?

I am trying to be kind to myself when faced with daunting tasks.  I am trying to grasp onto the 4th Agreement from Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements – Always Do Your Best.

Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more and no less.  But keep in mind that your best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next.  Everything is alive and changing all the time, so your best will sometimes be high quality, and other times it will not be as good.

 I rest easy when I Build on a Firm Foundation and Always Do My Best.

I will add to the wisdom of on premierfirewoodcompany.com:

Tinder – Kindling – Fuel.     It Takes a Spark!