In last Men’s Breakfast, the topic of discussion was ‘raising the standard’. My brother in law, John, said his old boss, who is now retired, had a favourite saying and it goes like this, “If its unacceptable don’t accept it.” John said he now makes that one of his daily themes. All too often in life we settle for second best, all too often we settle for a lower standard than what we really desire or hope for. Some people long to see a greater victory, a better outcome, a standard of excellence, yet never get to see their dreams realized, and become frustrated to the point where they lower their hopes. The bible tells us that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” ( Proverbs 13v12 ). If we think of sick ground or sour ground, we know its ability to grow and produce is diminished or even neutralized. A farmer will plough his ground, fertilise it and sometimes he will even grow a crop, just to be ploughed back in for the express purpose of refreshing and redepositing minerals and eleme