“Try not to become a man of SUCCESS, but rather a man of VALUE. He who is SUCCESSFUL gets more out of life
than he puts in. But a man of VALUE will
give more than he receives.”
--Albert Einstien
It should be pretty much crystal clear by now, mostly in
light of the recent government shutdown, that there isn’t a thing in life truly
promised to us. As every working person
knows, it’s a privilege to have a job, not a right. So in a way, it still kind of baffles me how
one person can berate another based on his or her position in the working
world. Our society has very effectively glorified
climbing an imaginary social ladder as a must-do thing in life. It’s become such a ingrained part of our
psyche that our net worth as human beings are being strictly tied to our
positions in the working world. I can
safely say, as a person who’s been on the lower rungs of this ladder for quite
some time, that it’s rather easy to follow directions. It’s also become quite apparent to me that
promotion has been granted to the person who not only is seen as being able to
follow directions better than I can, but who also is willing to throw others
under the bus or suck-up to the boss to get the desired position. And you know what? That’s phony, and phony is rather simple and
easy when it’s all broken down. After
all, it’s always easy to pretend to be someone you’re not, and those who work
incredibly hard at it have no idea what hard work really is.
I work with kids, and it’s frustrating to me when I have to
explain to them what hard work is, or rather what the value of hard work is. It’s
not because times have changed. It’s not
because it’s non-existent. It’s because
society at large champions the abandonment of one’s dreams to climb the
insufferable corporate ladder. It’s
almost as if society is telling youngsters to let go of their dreams with the
promise that they’ll one day be the head of this giant multi-national
conglomerate. Use your eyes and common
sense and you can immediately come to the conclusion that such promises aren’t
even worth the hot air they’re attached to.
The reality is absolutely simple – you drive to work, get told what to
do for eight hours with sub-par pay, and go home at the end of the day. For most people, that’s work in a nutshell.
So what is hard work and
what’s the value of it? For starters, I think it’s not only
completely subjective, but specifically tied to mental and physical attributes
alone. That is, a person who takes a
mediocre job because he wants to have more time to pursue his own passions is
seen through the looking glass of the working world as being incompetent and
unreliable. On the other hand, a person
who navigates the corporate world and climbs the social ladder is seen as successful
and confident. This assumption could not
be further from the truth. I’m going to
submit that the pursuit of passion is infinitely harder than climbing the
social ladder. The reason for this is
the abject dissuasion of the pursuit of passion by society and the working
world. Companies like people who are
more willing to submit to the power of persuasion, and who on some subliminal
level refuse to think for themselves.
Thus, the only true prerequisites for moving up in the corporate world
are the only twin abilities of note – kissing ass and following
instructions.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the working world, it’s
that climbing that social ladder with the inevitable caveat of abandoning your
dreams is really a futile effort. It’s
really the next of kin to making a deal with the devil. You are essentially putting all of your
potential, creativity, and innovation on the table as a bargaining chip for the
impetus of attaining avarice and the inevitable pursuit of gluttony that comes
with it. It’s well worth mentioning that
this unkindly swap is wrought with the endangerment of your moral judgment and
diminishes not only the meaning of your own life to yourself and those around
you, but your impact on the world.
Hard work is not measured by the number of hours you work
per week, your salary, your position, or the endless performance of
meaningless, boring, and repetitive tasks.
It is measured by degrees of happiness.
After all, it is often the
hobbies we engage in, what we work at on our own time when we’re not being
paid, is where the true hard work lies.
You’ve heard such expressions as the starving artist and the starving
writer. Well, those aren’t
figurative. They’re literal. Most artists can barely afford to feed
themselves because they find happiness in the fact that they have time to draw
or write while sporting a job that doesn’t require much thought. It’s also an example of the pursuit of
passion, and in a world that glorifies material possession and moderate wealth
as the “good life,” is not considered hard work. Well, I would challenge you to tell that to
the next person you meet who has to choose between groceries and pharmaceuticals. If you don’t think that’s hard, it’s because
you never had to.
So the next time you see those people running away from the
social ladder, commend them for having the fortitude and devotion to be able to
stand on their own two feet and find their own meaning. Although I am still young, I have enough
experience in this area to say it – going with the flow is the easy way
out. Going against the grain is what’s
hard, and that is what makes it a painful, wonderful, emotional, and valuable
experience.
