Effort Is Not Contribution

I know how to work hard.
To stay longer.
Carry more.
Keep going after the energy is gone.
Effort has always been easy for me to give.
It feels honorable.
Visible.
Earned.
It also gives me a way to measure myself.
How much did I do?
How much did I give?
How tired am I?
Those questions make effort feel like proof.
Proof that I cared.
Proof that I participated.
Proof that I mattered.
That is where I get confused.
Effort tells me
how much of myself I spent.
It does not tell me
whether what I spent was needed.
A better question:
What can I contribute?
That question changes what I measure.
It asks what is useful.
What fits.
What can move through me
into something larger.
Sometimes contribution requires great effort.
Sometimes it requires restraint.
Effort is real.
Contribution is what
the effort becomes.