avatarNicole Akers

Summarize

We Believe in Hard Work but Have Forgotten What It Looks Like

Look at history to remember

Photo by Muhammad Muzamil on Unsplash

I took my daughter on a walk for a change of scenery. Too much time inside and inactivity is not a good thing. I walk while she bikes back and forth across this stretch of the trail. There are no streets, and she can ride back and forth as many times as she’d like to make her body work hard. It’s better to get pent up energy out in positive ways than to have it inside.

Her foot slipped off her bike pedal, and she nearly came to tears over an ouchie I couldn’t see. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for a minor hurt and close my eyes, so I don’t visibly roll them while blowing a kiss to the injury she can’t even show me. “Keep going,” I say while I consider what my parents would have said to me in the same situation.

They would have said something to the effect of, “Keep going, wuss.” That’s more like what I was thinking, but that’s not what came out of my mouth. “Kisses to your ouchie. It’ll be fine. Keep going.”

It got me to thinking about our ancestors and how hard they worked. They wouldn’t have considered stopping for a little ouchie.

While most Americans say they believe in the ideals of hard work, only about 38% of them begin to understand what hard work really is, according to a Pew Research study.

Our ancestors knew the meaning of hard work. Many were hunters and gatherers, who foraged for their food and dwellings. Homo Sapiens had modern tools evolved from bone, fishing hooks, and spears. They knew hard work as a daily way of life.

I imagine them snickering at those of us who mow the grass and then collapse on the couch in the airconditioning. They could not fathom how “hard” life as we know it has come to be. Likely, we’d find them holding their bellies, rolling on the floor, laughing at the absurdity of the idea that our life is hard.

As Edison said:

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas Edison

Edison was known to nap during the day so he could stay up all night. He secured more than 2300 patents during his lifetime. You’re probably most familiar with his invention of the light bulb. If you can flip a light switch, it’s Edison you should be thanking.

Few people who live in first world countries can imagine a boat trip across the Atlantic, much less around the world. We’re not talking about a cruise where you have your own room to retire to for privacy and sleeping.

No meals will be prepared for your grazing privileges in the Grand Hall. This isn’t the Titanic voyage, where pompous and arrogance reign until an iceberg pops up and bumps into your ship.

Consider the original Mayflower voyage that took more than 60 days and had no motor to propel it. The expedition was planned to be with two ships: the Mayflower and the Speedwell. The Speedwell’s name is ironic because it was much slower than the speed its name suggests.

The vessel leaked repeatedly and could not be made seaworthy. After two attempts at repair, the leaky Speedwell hindered the voyage and caused too much time to be lost. Speedwell wasn’t fairing well at all and was returned to Plymouth so the Mayflower made the trip alone.

In the 1600s, when the voyage was made, hot food could be enjoyed on deck during fair weather, but stormy or windy weather meant a change in the menu: Salted beef and dried biscuits, dried vegetables, and beer. Need the privy? Look around and find a bucket. Perhaps you can crouch in a corner and fluff your skirts around your nakedness for some privacy.

The early sea pilgrims were brave people who risked their lives and worked hard. Those who make a modern-day transatlantic cruise can make the trip in 6–8 days and know nothing of the hard life of early pilgrims who made the same voyage.

Another pioneer, whose work we treasure said:

“Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it, and work at it until it’s done right.” — Walt Disney

Disney created Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi and Fantasia, followed by Cinderella and Mary Poppins and other full-length technicolor cartoons.

We enjoy Mickey Mouse and his famous amusement park. We hear of his success, but rarely, how close he came to failure and bankruptcy.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair reveals the disfigurements and deaths of people who knew what hard work was. It introduced Labor Laws and laid the groundwork for employees to have protection when they showed up to perform the work that paid them wages.

The SparkNotes version shares the plight of Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite, who immigrated from Lithuania to Chicago for a better life. Jurgis worked in a meatpacking factory that was not heated in the winter.

Jurgis’ father, Dede Antanas, dies from working a job he was too old to physically do, after agreeing to pay one-third of his wages to a broker for helping him find and secure the job.

Ona gave birth to one child and was forced back to work just seven days later. Later she becomes pregnant again, and her boss keeps her after work one night and forces her to sleep with him. She and the child both die in childbirth.

Jurgis, utterly devoid of hope, having lost his wife and child, the surviving child is a prostitute, wanders into a Socialist rally, and becomes a believer of the cause. Jurgis knew hard work. It had killed some of his family. And, while he was physically alive, hard work had broken his spirit.

“I’m against retiring. The thing that keeps a man alive is having something to do.” — Colonel Sanders, KFC founder

Your great-grandfather knew hard work. My grandfather plowed the fields from morning until night. His hard work, in comparison to his ancestors, was easy.

Today, we know so little about hard work that we create demons. Trials show up in the form of jealousy, late nights, and early mornings on the computer, and asking others to fund our new business idea on Kickstarter. We forget what hard work means, even though we say we believe in its ideal.

My hard work is a light burden in comparison to the Homo Sapiens and the pioneers who came over on the Mayflower. I haven’t lost any family like those who worked in factories to help bring about the labor laws we enjoy today. My kids don’t know hard work. Not really. The hard work I do is easy in comparison to others, and I’ll presume it’s similar for you too.

It’s time to remember hard work so we can stop creating monsters to plague our thoughts. Let’s sweat, work hard, and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

“Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work.” — David Ogilvy, advertising business tycoon

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