1:37pm Monday
Saint Paul
Last week I wrote about my daughter’s violin lessons and how she doesn’t like having to put forth effort in order to progress.
She’s happy to practice the few things she knows, but the moment there’s a whiff of effort required…
I don’t think she’s alone. My wife’s a teacher and she sees in her students the same avoidance of effort.
“That’s extra!” they’ll complain. About anything.
“Doin’ too much!” is another common refrain.
Today she said, “We don’t ask kids to do hard things any more.”
Is life Easy or Hard?
Life is both easy and a struggle.
It’s easy in that the best parts of life are free — faith, family, friends.
But personal growth requires struggle. (And those free things require personal growth if you want to maximize them.)
I recently read this line from Ronald Tan,
“When adversity befalls you,
remember that life is a struggle,
and you cease to live if you cease to struggle.”
Sure, we can pick some of those struggles, such as a career choice or new hobby.
Other struggles are thrust upon us, such as unemployment or illness.
And to succeed in any struggle… to have a meaningful life… means you will face both setbacks and advancements.
But how does one succeed?
We’re all aware that hard work alone doesn’t bring success.
There are many hard working people out there, and they’re not all considered “successful” by whatever way you measure it.
So if it’s not hard work… what’s the secret?
We get that answer from Albert E.N. Gray’s speech and essay, The Common Denominator of Success (PDF).
In his own words, Gray says:
“The common denominator of success
—the secret of success of every man who has
ever been successful— lies in the fact that he formed
the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.
We all have things we don’t like to do. And when we let our short-term emotions decide our behaviors, our long-term success suffers.
Do the hard things. It’s good for you and sets you up for success. Walk instead of drive; turn off the television; skip the unhealthy treats; create instead of consume.
I’m sure others do “the hard things” better than I, but I’m not in competition with them. Just with my lazy self.