One of the most memorable opening phrases of a book I read back in my early “let’s read literature” age:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Hmmm…reread this classic!
This century is 22 1/2 years old, and if there was ever a phrase that described these times, Mr Dickens has it right. We’ve seen the top and lived through the bottom. Life has been good, and it’s equally faced deplorable negatives.
During this long season, and it’s been replete with all four (hot, mild, wet, and cold), we’ve watched prices skyrocket, and the bottom falls out of several indices and markets.
Life has not been a bed of roses or flirting with the planet-ending crisis we all fear. Still, it seems that the game of Hard Knocks is being won by those who have the attitude to go the distance.
During the past few weeks of my brother’s help, he had a common saying, “If you ain’t bleeding, you ain’t working.” We found the truth in that statement that came from splinters, blisters, hammers, nails, and screws! The only way to bleed was to put your hand on the tools and find where the blood would show up next!
Everything we do requires making hard decisions, and working through our motivations requires knowing that accomplishments come only from the dedication to doing hard things.
Going With The Flow, Or Working Against the Easy Path
Just because everyone’s doing it doesn’t mean you should. You have your path and personality dynamics working from your unique personality. If it were easy to be you, then everyone would be clamoring for your attention.
Hard salespeople tell you everyone is doing it, but when everyone is worse off than when they began, why would you want to duplicate their mistakes?
At some point, you learn to be stubborn as a Missouri Mule, turn against the tide, and fight your way to success. Or, you follow the pathway of the mass of lemmings headed to the same cliff.
If you are a leader, you develop the team that heads for the star of your own choosing. If you are a follower, you hitch your wagon to the team with a leader that is going somewhere! Teamwork will help you reach the destination that is not “mass” driven.
It’s Your Choice
When Jesus spoke to the 12 disciples with what we surmise was the primary recruitment phrase (follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men), they saw something that others did not see. Other than Judas, the eleven followed Jesus and made many mistakes. Their vision was on the mission. They may have worried about what was coming back in those early days. But you find them persevering till their ending. They made a choice!
That’s learning to do things the Hard Way because that is the only way.
I’m 67 years old and am still learning to make hard choices. It never ends. You will be like this all the days of your lives, so you might as well start making good choices, uh, hard choices, uh, well, their both the same. Do It Now!