It’s a saying many of us have heard most of our lives but it might surprise you to realize, there are a lot of folks out there that aren’t aware of that quote. Or, perhaps they just don’t admit to it. But you and I both know, good things come about from hard work. (Although I’m not so sure it never killed anyone!)
Take the automobile. Henry Ford spent years working on the engine until he created the car that would become what we enjoy today. Edison experimented repeatedly until he discovered the light bulb. We owe much to others like Alexander Graham Bell who gave us the telephone, Jonas Salk who helped develop the polio vaccine, George Washington Carver who never gave up until he exhausted all uses of the peanut. And I could go on and on. (By the way, all of those inventions happened on American soil. But that’s for another blog.)
So, hard work, as we see above, yields great things.
If you feel you’ve been working hard, but to no avail. If you seem to wonder if you will ever see the day your efforts pay off. Perhaps ponder one of the above individuals for a few moments. Or, better yet, find a book about their story. Or just google them. I bet it will inspire you if anything.
And too, there is that famous speech Winston Churchill gave to the students of Harrow School in Great Britain. Many of us have heard about this speech. But few have ever read or seen it in its entirety. I did manage to locate it online, but will share here only the part you are most familiar with:
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
With that, regardless of the tasks or situations you find yourself in during the coming months or year, let this bit of wisdom encourage you along your way. If you feel your cause is too small, or your competition or enemy too great, perhaps these words will give you a little boost to keep you as you go along your way.
Even the Bible weighs in on the subject.
Prov. 14:23 ¶ Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table.
With that. Keep up the good work.
S.
