Go Out and Do it!

Hard work, it is tough and makes us tired. It stretches our limits and tests our endurance. When we see it coming we often heave a big sigh knowing that long days and nights are soon to follow. Our brains may be tested, our muscles could be sore, our heads may spin and at the end of the day we have achieved and still know that more hard work is still to follow. And yet we persist because as these words from Booker T. Washington remind us, nothing comes that is worth having without hard work.

My brother and I were conversing about hard work. We are in the midst of a family construction project and we were both saying how much we enjoy hard work. It is tough, no doubt and yet the rewards are immeasurable. Being able to see something at the end of the day that you did, you can point to it and say, “I did that!” The tangible-ness of physical hard work, of building a creating things has great power. No one can take that away from you and it reminds you that your efforts and energy matter.

I knew an executive, C level executive, who mowed his own lawn every weekend. Sure he could afford to have a landscaping crew do it, but he preferred to spend time on his rider mower cutting the grass. He said it gave him a sense of accomplishment that pushing emails and attending meetings did not. He also noted that if he didn’t work hard on his lawn he would probably be very frustrated with his life. It was the job well done from his Lawn mowing efforts that helped him feel content.

Let me encourage you to get out there, roll up your sleeves and do the hard work. Be it studying, growing things, building, painting, planning or even baking, go do something hard. Tackle that work project, organize that community event. Make a dress or clean out all your closets. Whatever it is that gets your blood moving and tires you out, go out and do it! Feel the pride and satisfaction of a job well done, then go to bed tired and proud.