Working Hard But Hardly Working (With Love From Dad)
Twenty four hours will make one day, but not all hard work will work out. What are you doing?
Are you working hard or hardly working? Is your strength being used optimally? Is wisdom profitably directing you?
The truth is hard work doesn’t always guarantee success, there are a lot of variables that are not within your control. As the Bible puts it, “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”
This doesn’t mean you should consciously begin to work hard against your own progress. As a great writer described it, it doesn’t mean you should keep shooting yourself in the foot, then stick your bloody foot in your mouth.
The world is filled with talented and intelligent people sabotaging their own efforts through nonchalant attitude, disrespecting others, ungratefulness, laziness and most dangerous of all a caustic tongue. Purge yourself of all that.
Next up, recognize that “Wisdom is profitable to direct.” You don’t have to go through every experience in order to learn from them or validate them. You are wiser than that. More importantly, you do not have enough time for that.
Learn from others. Books, music, movies, feature pieces and editorials, fiction and non-fiction. All of these are ways knowledge and experience are being passed along. Learn as much as possible from them.
More importantly, always try to seize every opportunity you get to listen to elders share their life experiences. Be it through the mass media, at live events or in person. They have seen things you have not seen and may never see. But you can hear it all from them.
Be slow to speak and willing to hear more. Listen with the intent to assimilate, rather than respond.
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. (Proverbs 12:15 KJV)
The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. (Ecclesiastes 10:15 KJV)
Don’t be that guy. Working hard, but hardly working.
Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator and Creative Writer.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. @IJoswil
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