Gratitude for People Who Master Their Craft

We should all strive to be the master of our craft. If you’re a barista, be the master of coffee making everywhere. Take so much pride in your work that people thank you regularly for their coffee. This means doing a little more, of course. It could mean filling the cup slightly fuller or swirling the most expert design at the top of the coffee. If you’re a teacher, as I am, it could mean writing or offering that extra compliment that can make all the difference in a kid’s life. I can still remember the best compliment I ever received on a paper, one that came after numerous others already offered, one that was no doubt an extra comment, “I enjoyed reading this!” It was a compliment on a paper I wrote about the role of video games as modern mythology. So simple. But so appreciated. So much an extra comment by someone who had mastered her craft.

I am inspired to write this post because I am incredibly grateful this morning for a restaurant with servers and chefs who mastered their craft. Fun story of gratitude: Becki and I are on our honeymoon, and we just woke from a late night supper at a restaurant in Marseille, France called Miramar. It is not far from our hotel, Hotel La Residence. We ordered three dishes, and in between each dish our server kept bringing additional courses. Becki was speaking French as best she could (which no doubt endeared her to our server) and the server kept offering that “We have something for you.” In total, we were presented five extra dishes (free ones) on top of the three we ordered. I feel overwhelmed with gratitude this morning, even though we had espresso with our desserts that may have kept us up all night haha

It was obvious when we left some two hours later that this restaurant and its staff had mastered their craft. They wanted to do something extra. I am inspired to do more myself, not just in my profession but also in my marriage. I love this woman. She deserves extra. I want to master my craft for her, and that means doing the simple things often and always for her because I love her deeply.

At our wedding reception, we provided a guestbook that I will draw from regularly for my posts. At bottom is one from Meghan, Becki’s daughter. It says it simply. I will do my best to master this line. That will mean doing extra. Extra is something like making sure the car has a full tank of gas when I bring it home, or that I did an extra load of laundry so that Becki doesn’t have to. That’s the extra.

Everything will go well for everyone when we strive to master our craft. Doing just enough is not enough. Let’s strive for more.