The only real growth or improvement comes slowly and steadily. A quick flash of growth is usually followed by a equally quick drop. Just ask the bull on Wall Street. I met him once, took a selfie next to him and he concurred. Charging ahead in a reckless attempt to grow is always followed by a long resting period. Unfortunately for us humans, those rest periods get longer and longer as we get older until eventually there is no more charging ahead. So the only real way to grow is with persistence, incrementally.
I know. I know. None of us want to hear that. What we want is to find the miracle cure, the get rich quick scheme, the inspirational idea that removes all your need to work. You want the discovery, the sudden 7X7 bull elk in that clearing up ahead, X marks the spot. Well, sorry. To quote Mr Dylan:
Cause you can’t find it on a dollar bill
And it ain’t on Macy’s window sill
And it ain’t on no rich kid’s road map
And it ain’t in no fat kid’s fraternity house
And it ain’t made in no Hollywood wheat germ
And it ain’t on that dimlit stage
With that half-wit comedian on it
Ranting and raving and taking yer money
And you thinks it’s funny
The bottom line is that the only way to grow is through plain old hard work. Slowly, overtime, incremental improvement. The sooner you start the more successful you will be. Quit wasting time looking for the quick fix – it does not exist. All that time you spent looking, you could have just been improving. By the time you found the mythical gold bullion buried at the bottom of the ocean of could of and would of you could have been keeping a commitment everyday. Slow and steady always beats fast and careless.
Tortoise and the Hare. Another fable from long ago, a dying generation left us that only little nugget of wisdom and yet we still give awards and accolades to the young flash in the pan success story that will be broke in a year. The only way forward is good ol fashion hard work. To quote Mr. Guthrie:
While we are on the subject of hard work
I just wanted to say you that, “I always was a man who likes hard work”
I was born working and I worked my way up by hard work
I ain’t ever got no where, but I got there by hard work
Work of the hardest kind I been down and I been out
I been disgusted I been busted and I couldn’t be trusted
I worked my way up and I worked my way down
I been drunk and I been sober, I been baptized and got hijacked
I been robbed for cash and I been robbed on a credit
Worked my way in jail and I worked my way outta jail
Woke up a lot of mornin’s, didn’t know where I was at
The hardest work I ever done was, when I was tryin’
To get myself a worried woman to help ease my worried mind
Fun song. The point is that hard work is really all that you have. Work toward a positive aim, a goal, a destination. Start today and in several hundred days you will have climbed your first foothill and you will like the view from there. You will have a long way to go for sure. However, it will look much better when you start. So start. Of course, once you do the next foothill will look a bit more like a mountain and that will suck and you might stumble a little. You might even be in a slump. Just whatever you do, don’t get caught in the Waiting Place. To quote Mr. Seuss:
And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.
You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That’s not for you!
So we are all in the same place, fighting the same battle. We are all on a journey, heading to a destination. It would be great if we were all heading straight forward, working hard, making progress. Doing what we can each day to make the world, ourselves, on community a better place. You can, you will. Eventually we all have to realize that the only progress is forward progress. One step forward, one after another, everyday. So hopefully you can join with me in keeping a commitment everyday, making progress, doing the best I can. We are all in the same boat. To leave you with the words of Mr. Leadbelly:
So the boat rolled on through storm and grief
Of a many a rock and many a reef
What kept them goin’ was a great belief
So they had to learn to navigate
That human race was special freight
If they didn’t want to be in Jonah’s shoes
They’d better be mates on this here cruise
We’re in the same boat, brother
We’re in the same boat, brother
And if you shake one end
You’re gonna rock the other
It’s the same boat, brother
Guy Reams (436)
365 Alumni
77 Days Left to 1st Marathon
