We are defining diligence as doing our work carefully, with concerted and consistent effort. As I have been talking to our students about that this week, I cannot help but think about how this ties in with the concept of being mindful. When we are mindful, whatever the task is at hand – that is what we are giving our attention. So if we are cleaning up after dinner – then we are only thinking about that and not what is next on our agenda of tasks.
This can be difficult at first. All of us though have had the experience of quickly completing a task only to need to go back and revisit how it was completed. Teaching our children to slow down and not rush just to be able to move on to “what we really want to do” is an important part of helping them overcome stress as they take on more responsibilities.
Finally diligence is not about being or getting everything done perfectly before we move on. It is only about truly doing our best on the task we are working on. When we do our best, we can feel good about the results and see where we need to improve and not be disappointed by “silly mistakes” due to rushing the project.