To Work or Not To Work! That is the question!

While teaching a course on the Certainty Cycle (http://nicktsmith.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/the-certainty-cycle/) a gentleman asked me, “Why is it that kids these days, don’t seem to get past the idea stage, they don’t even make an effort to go further, they won’t even try.” I gave him an answer, but it was on the fly and not as thoughtful as I would have liked it to be. Hopefully this perspective will shed some additional light on the matter.

Today I was listening to “The Law” by Frederick Bastiat; a French Theorist and Political Economist. His words hit home and though they are not my own, I would like to expound upon them.

He said essentially that there are two ways to gain property, the first is to work for it and the second is to take it. Now some may argue that you can give property away, but you can only give what’s yours and you can only do it without coercion. Taking from someone to give to another is not giving, that is taking.

People fluctuate between these two areas. When society supports working for property and punishes the taker it becomes too painful for the “takers” and they will ultimately work for what they would like to have or go without. On the other hand when society supports the taker and the idea of working for property becomes too painful, most people will resort to taking.

Today we are experiencing a society wherein working for what we want has become too painful. Why should I work hard for what I want when Joe down the street does nothing and is fine? If we fail in this taker society, someone will bail us out. After all, our parents don’t want us to “struggle” like they had to. Programs and institutions, laws and teachings are created around the idea of taking from someone to give to another. So why should I become successful just to have someone take it away? As long as this mindset is prevalent, there will be no transition to a society that earns what it wants. Welfare, food stamps, grants, government bailouts, parents who let us live at home for free until we are 40 years old, coddling and “nurturing,” all lead us to believe that this way of life is ok. They all tell us that we don’t need to work for what we want.

Until we decide as a society that everyone gets to earn their keep, we will continue down the road we’re on until it naturally becomes too painful and we switch back to the other way of being. If we choose to go down the natural path and act as takers long enough for it to lose its savor, it usually results in some kind of a struggle. Great or small this struggle is painful and can take a very long time to cure. If we choose to change it on our own, it can be equally difficult because these results that we are experiencing didn’t come about overnight or else we would have rejected them. They came gradually and patiently until most of us became takers without even knowing that this is what we were doing.

The choice is ours. The following story may reflect how this works:

THERE IS A STORY told about an elder Native American walking in the forest with his grandson.

Native American culture holds great respect for its elders and the wisdom that accompanies them.

At one point along the way after they had spotted a wolf in the distance, the grandfather said: “Within us there are two wolves. One is mean, vicious and angry, hungry to destroy. The other is kind and gentle.” That was all he said.

As they continued walking for a while finally the grandson asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?”

The grandfather reflected silently for a moment and then responded: “The one you feed.”

Which one will you feed? Will you continue to feed the idea of “something for nothing” or will you ingrain patiently, the idea that working for what we want is a much less painful path?

Until we choose the path of earning what we want without being forced to do so, we will continue to experience much of the same until like I said, we are compelled to change.

Everything we are experiencing today is a result of past decisions. Good or bad, our actions or inactions have created today’s actuality. How are your decisions working for you? How are they working for those you care about?

No one can force you to do things differently. Even if they held a knife to your throat and said they would kill you if you didn’t do it their way, you would still be at choice. That is the one thing that can never be taken away and must be guarded at all costs.

In closing, it is ultimately up to you. Lead by example. Show those that look up to you that you are willing to create value for what you get and they may do the same. Teach them how creating value is much less painful than taking and they might have a desire to do so. You can only change yourself. Others will get to choose for themselves.

Choose to change or be changed!

Both are choices!