Do Whatcha Gotta Do

​​"You have to do what must be done knowing happiness doesn't always come from that, but greatness does." -- Sydney Leroux

In recognition of the Women's World Cup (currently taking place in Canada), I'm posting the above quote attributed to Sydney Leroux, a forward on the USWNT. In searching online, I realized that a nearly identical quote has been attributed to George Bernard Shaw. Not knowing or necessarily trusting everything on the internet, in either event, the spirit of the quote serves us well, regardless of who said it.

The quote makes me think of the fourth of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz: "Always do your best," understanding that your best is going to change from moment to moment; for example, it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to when you are sick. As such, doing what must be done doesn't equate with doing the impossible or doing the unreasonable, but simply doing your best to do what must be done.

I also think about the importance of prayer, silence and meditation as part of doing what must be done. Doing what must be done doesn't always require busyness, multitasking, or hyperactivity. Sometimes doing what must be done requires the ability to step back and reflect. God has given us the ability to think and reason, so we should do so. There is a duality to life: thought versus action, theory versus practice, idealism versus realism. We should not have too much of one without the other; instead there should be balance. There are times when we should step away from the noise of everyday life and deliberately think about what must be done, then when the time is right, do it!