Riding the Bus of Our Life--a Muse

 

Make Do

In Connecticut, where I was born and raised, I hired a fellow many years ago whose license plate read "MAKE-DO."  I guess that was his motto but, at the time, I took issue with it.  My attitude was, get out there, work, make it happen and get what you want.  Don't just be satisfied with what you have.  Well, many years have passed and I have a broader point of view and, hopefully, a better understanding of the expression, "make do." 

“Make do" doesn't necessarily mean getting by with what you have. There are times, though, when that's just what you have to do, say when money is tight.  But there's nothing wrong with wanting to get ahead and wanting to be prosperous.  A lot of people still have the misguided notion that money is the root of all evil.  That's not the right quote at all.  The quote is "the love of money is the root of all evil."   But making do does have to do with honoring the law of economy--getting the most out of what you have without wasting resources or effort.  For example, if the car you now have gets you where you want to go and is dependable, you may just want to stick with it and use the money you save for something more meaningful, like investing or traveling.  In that case, making do with the car you have may make a lot of sense.

 Making do can also refer to taking what you have and making the most of it, using your ingenuity to resolve a situation. 

 My old friend, Bill, was one of the most ingenious guys I know.  He told me that at one point his car had bald tires and he couldn't afford to buy new ones.  So, he decided to solve the problem by buying a new car and financing it.  That got him the new tires he needed, with a new car thrown in.  I guess his credit allowed him to do that. Talk about taking a step up by making good use of creativity. Some people call that, thinking outside the box. 

 My grandfather, Carmelo Ferraro was pretty ingenious, but I can't swear that this was his idea.  He was born in Naro, Sicily, and came to the United States as a young man in the early 1900's, ending up in Connecticut where he married Grandma and raised my family.  Now, the climate in Connecticut is not what it is in Naro, Sicily where he was born. Hey, the winters can get freezy cold up there.  So Grandpa Ferraro couldn't have a fig tree and grow that wonderful fruit folks enjoy in Sicily, right?  Wrong.  Every summer we enjoyed delicious figs that grew on the tree Grandpa had planted.  How did he do it?  Next to the tree he dug a deep, hole, as long as the tree was high.  By cutting back and maintaining the roots of the tree in a large ball, he could tie the branches together at the end of summer, and roll the tree down into the hole, a sort of grave, if you will.  Then he'd pack the hole with leaves and grass, then top it off with a board or metal sheet to keep it from freezing during the winter.  In the spring when the threat of frost was over, he'd resurrect the tree, spread it's branches, pack dirt around the base, and that tree was ready to produce figs in a climate where they weren't supposed to grow.  Another way of making do when the odds seem against you.                     

When Ben Franklin was 10, he was apprenticed to his brother to learn the printing trade. Here is an excerpt from his autobiography about it. 

"I …. proposed to my brother, that if he would give me, weekly, half the money he paid for my board, I would board myself. He instantly agreed to it, and I presently found that I could save half what he paid me. This was an additional fund for buying books. But I had another advantage in it. My brother and the rest going from the printing-house to their meals, I remained there alone, and, despatching presently my light repast, which often was no more than a bisket or a slice of bread, a handful of raisins or a tart from the pastry-cook's, and a glass of water, had the rest of the time till their return for study, in which I made the greater progress, from that greater clearness of head and quicker apprehension which usually attend temperance in eating and drinking."

 

Folks, Ben Franklin made do, and used his ingenuity to become one of the most outstanding public servants and financially successful figures in American history.  Another name for ingenuity is creative imagination, actually a resource you can develop. When problems come up, they're an opportunity to develop your ingenuity or creative imagination to solve them.  Stop a moment, think, reflect.  Ask, "What can I do to make do, make this work, and get to where I want to go?