Hard Work

My most recent post gave some words of wisdom that I received from my grandmother. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read here. Today I wanted to write about another one of these wise sayings that my grandmother used to say. I've heard her say, "if you want good, your nose must run!" For the longest time I thought this was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I imagined my nose running plenty of times and it didn't seem good to me. I mean, what is so good about your nose running when you have a cold? Later, I realized that it meant that you have to work hard for what you want.
This is just so true because if you are not a hard worker then it will be hard for you to be successful. I get so tired of lazy people complaining about not getting ahead. They claim that they have a vision but they are not getting anywhere. Don't get me wrong, it is good to have a vision. Proverbs 29:18 tells us, "where there is no vision, the people perish." However, if you have a vision and are unwilling to do the work necessary to see your vision come to fruition, then how do you expect it to happen? Consider Proverbs 12:24, "the hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor."
I believe that you have to be willing to get out there and pull your sleeves up and work your tail off. It doesn't matter if you are working in the corporate world, in retail or food services or even in a church. God wants you to come with a willing heart but He also wants you to work. Many times we get so set in our ways that we don't even realize that we aren't even giving enough effort. We can't see our efforts objectively and we've convinced ourselves that we are giving our best. But, if we were to stop and take another look then we would see that what we are doing is not really our best. We are just doing enough to get by. We didn't really do enough research to write that report but the deadline is here, so why bother? We didn't practice enough but we have to go give a presentation or even a performance so why not just wing it?
Is it really enough? If you've seen American Idol, then you know that no matter how good the contestants might think they are, it all comes down to how they will be critiqued, whether it's by the judges or even us, the American people who vote. Your work is being critiqued in some form and how you complete your work will be judged. So just because you are working with kids and you think, oh they are not smart enough to figure out that I didn't do my best today. The truth is, no matter who you work with, kids or adults, you have to always give your best. Only your best is good enough. Practice, work hard. Do whatever it takes. You can take yourself to the next level but you have to submit yourself to the work. Quit being lazy. Let your nose run and run until you get to the finish line of success.