The Extra Mile
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say:
Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
After serving as a fighter pilot during World War II, my dad worked as a rural mail carrier in our small hometown. For 32 years he traversed 50 miles of country roads delivering mail to 500 patrons. He carried out his duties faithfully and went above and beyond when he felt a situation warranted it. When a letter arrived from a son or daughter serving overseas, he would walk up a long country lane in a foot of snow to save an anxious elderly couple the walk. We are not all called to be heads of state, but we are all asked to perform our jobs to the best of our abilities.
TODAY I WILL PAY ATTENTION TO EVEN THE SMALLEST ASPECTS OF MY JOB, AND I WILL DO MY BEST.