24/12/2025
"Doing One’s Best"
From the book "THE PATH" by Konosuke Matsush*ta
https://konosuke-matsush*ta.com/en/
In whatever we do, when we have worked wholeheartedly and done the best that we can, we seek a reward for our labors. We want to pat ourselves on the back. Even when we have put in a long day busy with many things but worked hard and finished up, we feel relieved and, though tired, have a good appetite. We can relax and, even as we reflect on the work completed, we are satisfied. We experience a kind of calm because we know we have done the best that a person can do, and know that the rest is “left to heaven,” as the old saying goes.
In many things we may feel we come up short, but if we have but done our utmost, we do feel comforted and happy. We are rewarded.
Nothing can replace that feeling; it is not something that money can buy. People who think otherwise do not know the true rewards of work well done. They are people who do not know how to savor the pleasures of work. Such people are unfortunate indeed.
Many people measure things on a scale of success or failure, but even more important is something that you can only feel within your own heart: the knowledge that you have done your best.
The Magnetism of Determination by Konosuke Matsush*ta
A magnet attracts iron. The power of attraction is invisible, but clear. It naturally pulls iron toward it.
In our work there are various qualities that we try to cultivate, but surely the foremost is a sincere enthusiasm for what we do. Knowledge is important. Talent is important. But even without either of them, you could get the job done. With but minimal knowledge and little talent, if you were determined to complete the task, and filled with the determination to do so, you would ultimately be able to make the work come out well.
Even if a person cannot do a job personally, his or her sincere enthusiasm for the project generates an invisible power that draws people around; it works magnetically to mobilize the kind of support that is needed. And the job will be completed through the assistance and support of others.
Know-how and talent would be next to nothing without passion for work. We should do our best each day. Each of us has something to contribute, pouring the best of the resources at our disposal into the job to be done.