It was no shock that the expectations were that I purchase my own "wheels". It was for this reason that, by this time in life, I was an experienced paper boy. I started delivering papers around age 8, so by age 11, I knew how to earn and save money. I would get the bike when I had enough money. I got the bike.
I used to think that my dad had a garden in the back yard so that there would be plenty of work for us (my brothers and I) to do. Almost every summer day included a list of "chores" that we were expected to complete prior to the day's "fun schedule" (i.e., playing baseball until the sun set).
- Pick one row of broccoli
- Weed two rows of corn
- Mow the lawn
When I was feeling brave, I confronted my father, "How come I don't get paid to mow the lawn?"
On a good day, I might have received a more reasonable explanation, "You have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a house to live in. Now, get your butt out there and mow!!!"
When his patience had receded, I could have anticipated a more direct response, "You will go out there and mow the lawn because I told you to!!" The expectations were clear. My dad expected me to mow the lawn. I had no choice. I wasn't entitled to anything.
Allowance. What was that? I may have been a teenager before I was even convinced that it was real, that there were kids who got paid to exist. Sure, there were strings attached in some households. The room had to be clean or the trash had to be taken to the curb. Regardless, this is what I discovered my allowance was, "I have allowed you to live this long."
Today, when we, as Americans, reflect on that for which we are thankful, it is this that comes to mind. I am thankful that I have had parents, teachers, directors, coaches, and bosses that have taught me that I am not entitled to a damn thing!!! God gave me two arms, two legs, two hands (with all ten fingers), two feet (with all ten toes), and a brain. If I want something, if I need something, I have been blessed with the tools to get it. If I don't, it is because I chose not to make the necessary efforts.
Today, we live in a society that sees success as luck. The sports figure that makes millions of dollars is lucky. The CEO who makes millions of dollars running a multi-billion dollar company is lucky. The recording artist, who makes millions of dollars from record sales, did so by being lucky. Hard work and sacrifice are never considered as part of the equation.
Guess what. The basketball player wasn't born with the ability to shoot a basketball. He spent hours and hours, days and days, years and years dribbling, shooting, running, sweating. While everyone else was still sleeping, he was at the gym working out. While everyone else was home watching evening television, he was out playing in pick-up games. People will pay millions to watch him play a game because he has paid years of his life to hone the necessary skills. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
Guess what. The CEO didn't win the lottery. He didn't "inherit" his job. He worked hard in school. He got good grades. He took risks. He made sacrifices. Company boards and stock holders don't turn the reigns of multi-million dollar companies over to the first person who asks. Elite qualifications are necessary. With the job, the money, and the benefits comes unimaginable pressures. It means that the kids and spouse eat dinner without mom or dad because, after the hourly workers have all gone home, he or she is still at work hammering out a new sale, finishing a project. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
The musician. Having studied music in college, it is always interesting to here people talk about a singer or instrumentalist as being so talented, as though she woke up one morning and realized that she was a concert cellist. Guess what could be heard in the basement of the music building before sunrise. Music students practicing. Guess what could be heard at lunch time. Music students practicing. At night, when other students hit the clubs, drank the beer, and got the phone numbers, guess what could be heard in the basement of the music building...
When I had been out of high school for a considerable period of time, I had an epiphany. Sometimes I won't always get what I want. Sometimes I won't always get to do what I want to do. Sometimes, I will have to make sacrifices in order to provide for needs.
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The batter swings and hits a smokin' ground ball to the shortstop. The fielder is prepared, glove in the dirt, head down. The ball takes a "bad hop". It jumps right into the nose!! A loud pop heard in the stands. He goes down.
I wasn't sure if he was going to get up. I had never heard ball on bone sound so gruesome!!
He did get up. After a trip to the emergency room, at least one surgery, and many doctor visits later, his nose was near its original condition.
This made me think. What if that ground ball had broken my nose instead of hitting my friend in the face? I didn't have any health insurance to cover such an incident. One misplaced rock at a church softball game could have change my life. How responsible had I been?
Abraham Lincoln said, "I will prepare and some day my chance will come." So simple and yet so profound. What makes a chance a chance, an opportunity an opportunity is preparation. Sure, maybe a little luck was involved when a "talent" agent happened to be at a club where the guitarist's band was playing; but had he not put in the practice time, it would not have mattered. Musicians don't get lucky and play well.
Or could luck even be considered a factor? Had the agent not been at that particular club, that particular night, would the band have stopped playing? Not likely. Persistence and dedication would have facilitated more gigs, more tours. Sooner or later, he would be noticed.
Since the softball game, I am thankful for all the doors that God has opened in my life. Each door, however, would not have been a door without preparation, without prior efforts.
The first door was a job at a company where the employer was looking for someone with computer application skills. By this time, I had read numerous books on these applications, spent countless hours online reading tutorials, stayed up many nights until I understood.
While at this company, I continued to read. I spent time with experts in the IT field learning what I could. More and more hours were spent on the computer developing programming skills. Again, God opened another door, this time in an actual IT department. Again, without the time and effort spent improving abilities, it would not have been an opening, not for me anyway.
Now, I am thankful that I have health insurance. While taking one of the face would be painful, it would be no where near as costly. Still, looking back, there was never one second that I felt cheated. Never a time that I considered that someone else was responsible for my well-being.
There have been many people and entities that have helped me along the way. For that, I am deeply grateful. But they did not owe me. It wasn't because I deserved the assistance. It was their kindness and selflessness that deserves the credit.
This outlook is almost non-existent today. Basic human needs and rights have gone from food, clothing, and shelter to cell phones, internet access, and cars. Someone else is responsible for our education. Someone else is responsible for our medical care. We sit. We wait. If it doesn't come, it doesn't happen.
What really blows the mind are those parents with kids who sit and wait. Its not fair!! I can't afford to take my kid to the doctor!! All this while the cable TV is on, some one in the house is surfing the internet...oh, a knock at the door. It is the FedEx guy delivering a new iPhone from Amazon.
Forgive me for being blunt. If I couldn't afford my child's medical care, the cable gets canceled. The internet service gets canceled. The TV is sold. The computer is sold. Unless Amazon distributes health care, there will be no orders.
If this isn't enough, I get a second job. If this isn't enough, and there is still time in the day not spent using the bathroom, I get a third job. If this isn't enough, I sell a kidney, give plasma, etc., etc. It is mind-boggling that parents exist that have two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, and a brain that, instead of taking action and making preparations and sacrifices to care for their children, they spend their time whining about fairness and waiting for someone to do something for them.
We Americans. We moan, we bitch, we complain, we whine. It's not fair. I deserve this. I am entitled to that. It's highly likely that some who read this now haven't absorbed anything since the CEO anecdote. CEO's do nothing but lie, cheat, and steal. How could he even imply that there is anything virtuous in such an evil capitalistic pig.
Consider this. True, this world is full of liars, cheaters, and thieves. Some of them are CEO's. Some of them are musicians, and some are ball players. Regardless of their morality, each of these individuals realized that they have two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet, and a brain. Rather than waiting for hand-outs, they did something.
The world is also full of many human beings who are missing a hand, a foot, a leg, an arm, and in some instances, a fully functioning brain. How many more resources would be available to help these in true need if those who were born with all the necessary tools would stop lumping themselves in with those who were not, if helping the needy actually meant helping the needy?
Here is the sick irony. I have met, worked with, and spent time with many people who were not born with the basics for which I have been blessed. Hardly ever can they be heard moping and complaining about fairness. They are happy and content. At times, their contributions to society double that of those who have all their capacities, yet do nothing but consume.
Lets end with a prayer. Dear Lord, thank You for all that we have. The roofs over our heads. The clothes on our bodies. The food in our refrigerators. We especially thank You for our two hands, our two feet, our two arms, our two legs, and our brain. May we use these blessing to their fullest potential, and may we use these blessings to help those truly in need.
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