Hard Work

I’ll acknowledge up front that this posting is more than a little self-congratulatory. To that observation I add, “Okay, so what. Patting oneself on the back is good exercise if done in moderation.” I’ll try to be moderate.

Today is my youngest son’s birthday. When I called him this morning to wish him a Happy Birthday I was reminded of having done something good as a dad – and that was to have passed to my children something that my dad passed to me – a strong work ethic. I was taught to work hard, to get the job done, and to get it done right. My children have learned the same lesson.

I reached my son at home at 10:30 in the morning. He was not working. He was enjoying the morning with his wife and son. He granted himself the morning off because he’s been working 15 – 20 hours a day for the last couple of months, weathering a huge wave of important assignments in his engineering firm. He would not get home until after midnight, yet again, so this morning’s break was his birthday celebration (the cake was cut last night). The surge will hopefully dissipate by the end of this week and he’ll get to settle back into his “normal” routine, a mere 12 hours-a-day job.

As each of my children has entered the workforce I have watched them work very hard at whatever they’re doing. They’ve each become a highly valued employee because they care about what they’re doing. They don’t as much strive to excel as they excel by striving. It’s good to see, and I’m very proud of them.

My dad taught me to work like a man when I was a teenager. He taught me that hard work is its own reward; but, that it also “pays off” with other rewards, sooner or later. I didn’t like it then, but I feel the imprint of that lesson to this day. While my children didn’t work on a ranch wrangling and branding cattle, building fence, hauling hay, stacking feed bags, moving water pipe, irrigating in the middle of the night, clearing brush, milking cows, and slopping pigs, they were all given the responsibility of a hefty load of household and personal chores and they learned that with few exceptions doing those things, along with their schoolwork, came before doing other things.

At the same time, they watched their dad and mom work hard at what we were doing outside or inside the home. We taught them that the combination of hard work, genuine dedication and, very importantly, a good attitude will bring good things their way, because, frankly, the world isn’t overflowing with people who bring that combination to the table. There are a lot of hard workers who have bad attitudes, and there are a lot of workers with great attitudes who don’t work very hard. In both cases, genuine dedication to what they’re doing is missing.

As a result of learning the right combination I can see each of my children beginning to pick the fruit of their good labor and I know that they’re truly capable of providing for themselves and their families. I rest comfortably in the knowledge that they’ve become productive citizens who are each making a meaningful contribution in their chosen work.

It feels good. Now, they’re given the opportunity to pass that baton to the next generation. They’ll feel good when they do so.