It’s Hard — It’s Easy
Which Would You Choose?
Of course, you’d take the easy way. Who wouldn’t? Now, are you wondering if the hard way would get you better results? We were all pretty much brought up with the idea that hard work was rewarding. Lazy folk never came to a good end.
Somehow, appealing to your weaker spots, like your vanity or the promise of fun times, wants to obliterate hard work. I’ve been in administration long enough to see many instances of employees who just want to get over. Take a longer lunch. Get away, time after time, with calling in sick on Mondays. Then, when they are finally called on their behavior, they think something is wrong with the world.
If you think that way, you might benefit from thinking another way.
Well, here’s something. Let’s talk about a college diploma. It takes four years and will generally cost a lot of money — probably even more if you want to get something past a bachelor’s degree. Say you want to go to school for six years and earn a master’s degree in something. That’s six years from now?
Where are you going to live? Will you need to get a job to help pay your tuition? What if they require that you live on campus? Are you still living with your parents?
What if you can’t get a job doing what you went to school for? Yikes. What if you decide in the end that you don’t even like the career path you’ve set yourself on?
There are a lot of unknowns to that plan.
Here’s something to consider. Nobody, no matter what level of education they have, can really say for sure what their life is going to be like six years from now.
My advice is to stay on your path and see what happens. Being smart is a good thing. It will come in handy no matter what you eventually end up doing.
I didn’t get any farther than a high school diploma. From my point of view, I did okay. Women still hadn’t broken through the glass ceiling when I was working, so yes, I did take jobs that didn’t pay as much. But my husband was part of the team, so we plunked everything we earned into one pot. The only regret I have about my education is that I wasn’t more interested in it. It was sort of disjointed. I was a National Merit Scholar at one point, but I didn’t learn anything other than to develop a love of reading and writing, which has served me well. I also learned how to type. When you’ve got five kids in the house and go to 13 schools in 12 years, yeah, stuff falls through the cracks.
We never owned a house. But we are happy. We had adventures. I became a psychic, and Dennis became a historian. Which had nothing to do with the master’s degree he earned in German.
My father said, “A master’s is a master’s is a master’s.” It doesn’t matter what you earn your master’s degree in; it will always prove helpful. Dennis’s master’s degree in German got him a job as a real estate broker without having experience on the job. It proved to the folks who hired him that he had the aptitude to learn. That’s what a master’s degree is helpful for. It opens doors.
If you have the opportunity to get some college credits, do so. It’s much harder to return to school after you’ve been out for a while.
Life doesn’t always turn out as you expected it to. No matter your age, try not to regret the past. Move toward your future. Also, remember to enjoy the scenery as you move toward tomorrow.
So, you want to learn to play the piano? Get a keyboard and learn to play it. Ask for models that have semi or fully-weighted keys. Later on, if you’ve got the resources and want a “real” piano you can do that too.
Do you want to learn how to weave? Start small with a portable loom, or with one you make yourself out of wood and nails.
Want to learn how to crochet? You don’t have to spend a lot. Buy some yarn and a crochet hook, make a square, and turn it into a pillow for your cats.
For all of what you want to learn, watch YouTube videos to get the basics down.
It all takes practice. Think you will be a master bread baker after you’ve made one loaf? Hell no. You need to make lots of loaves of bread. You need to experiment. You need to try using different flours and different methods. Learn about sourdough and get one growing on your kitchen counter.
And writing. Why are we all here at Medium? Just keep writing. Watch YouTube videos. Delve into different kinds of writing. Try out poetry. See if you can make your words dance as if you were in a lucid dream. I tried something the other day on YouTube. It was writing sprints. There are folks out there who host them. Find them and ask for notifications. Or better yet, just slap a YouTube 45-minute timer on your screen and buckle down. I think you might be surprised at the results. The other day, I did one and managed to write 1,200 words. It wasn’t polished and grammatically correct, but it sure did get the kinks out. It felt like I was loosening up for a lovely day of writing. I’m going to do it again. I’ll put the link below.
For that matter, learn how to be psychic. You can do it. I did. If I did, you can too. I can guarantee that you will never be lonely another day in your life. There’s always somebody to talk to.
By the way, I woke up this morning from a strange dream of being tested and initiated into a job as a secret agent. The people in power were cruel to the point where it was hideous. But there was this one guy, this crazy guy in the dream, who sort of took me under his wing. I remember him doing things that likely would get him into trouble and yet he was showing me the way to keep my humanity and sanity about me and make me laugh at the same time. Once I woke up, I realized it was Robin Williams. To any average person, they’d say, “Oh, that’s interesting.” I knew, though, that it was really Robin Williams. We haven’t talked this morning. I just wanted to show you one of the many benefits of opening to Spirit. You can visit with anybody in the dream state.
Thanks for reading.
The Links: YouTube 25-minute timer to use for fantasy word sprints — blood-thumping music
YouTube 45-minute timer for word sprints — No music