“The reason why we do things so badly…

…is that we are not content to do what we can.”

Merton, No Man Is an Island 7.5 (p. 124)

Merton continues:

We insist on doing what is not asked of us, because we want to taste the success that belongs to somebody else.

We never discover what it is like to make a success of our own work, because we do not want to undertake any work that is merely proportionate to our powers.

Who is willing to be satisfiedd with a job that expresses all his limitations?

Merton, loc. cit.

Or as Paul wrote: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Romans 12:3). And: “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else” (Galatians 6:3f).

Good advice.