Work

Yesterday I was reminded of a quote I heard some time ago attributed to Thomas Edison. He said, "opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." The more I have considered this quote the more I have found truth in it. 

How often do we attempt to avoid work? How often do we seek the easier way and the fast results rather than the long lasting changes. Furthermore, how often do we fail to recognize the opportunities that stand right before us because we consider them work rather than the true 
opportunities that they are? 

I recall hearing about individuals work weeks during the summer years of my high school days. I recall how regularly my coworkers would discuss how much they dreaded work and how much more they looked forward to the weekend to do everything they could to forget about that very thing. This reminds me of a quote by George Sand that reads, "Work is not man's punishment. It is his reward and his strength and his pleasure."

We so often fail to see the joy in exertion, in attempt, and in accomplishment. The more I work in a way worth working, the more I enjoy the work that I do and the more those who I work for enjoy me. 

Indeed, in a large way, how we work resembles who we are. Therefore, make work something worth your time. Do something you are passionate about, and if you can't get such a job, be passionate about how you do your work. Be passionate about what you expect from yourself and the integrity in which you work. There are few greater feelings.

Time Is Running Out

Now that Thanksgiving day has passed, Christmas is right around the corner. Then, before the blink of an eye, the new year will arrive. As time runs out for the year 2016, we would be wise to slow down and consider the past months and year. 

Much has changed; a new president elect has been voted into the white house. Changes in the world governments have been abundant. Beyond this, you may find yourself a changed individual. Maybe you have brought a new life into this world, maybe you have said goodbye to another life, maybe you have traveled to places you never thought you would go, maybe you did not experience as much change as you  had hoped. Regardless of your circumstance, regardless of your experience this past year, there is still time to change. 

We sometimes curse time. It seems to go so fast when we look in the past and so slow as we consider our dreams before us. One thing is certain, although time is running out for this year, we can make the time that we have count. Yes, one thing we all have in common is the existence of time and our being bound to it. 

I came across a quote very recently that states, "time changes everyone." What an interesting and true statement. What a privilege we have in being restricted and bound to time. Through the passing of time, we are able to let go of things that have happened, through the presence of time, we are able to capitalize on the moment before us, and in the time to come, we are able to prepare for greater things.

These three phases that are every growing and ever repeating seem to pass through us while we pass through them. Indeed, time changes us as the second hand on the clock changes from the one to the two.