iWork

The greatest rewards aren't the ones we can reap right after we see them, but rather those we have to work to have. It is only then that we truly appreciate them.

Is it more fulfilling to marry the beautiful lady or to spend one night with the lady of the hour? Do you cherish a $20 bill more when your parents give it to you or when you earned every cent of it?

Why is our generation so afraid to work for what we have the ability to earn? Our generation is so knowledgeable that it is crazy. "A single weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than most people in seventeenth-century England were likely to encounter in a lifetime." And still, many of those people didn't expect anything for free. They were satisfied with their work-filled, relatively insignificant lives. We live in such spendor that we take it for granted. We get bored with all we have because we don't work for it. We don't work for television or the internet or our ability to communicate or travel to see people.

Gentlemen, how much more would seeing someone you were dating mean if you had to walk for a day to see her? Ladies, what if you had to travel 3 days from where you live to purchase the 1 dress you would get that season? We don't have to wait long for movies to come out or new music. Do you know how long people used to wait for a new Al Green record? It wasn't like he was recording mixtapes every month. Or think back to Mozart's times. People had to wait for music to be written and then hear Mozart's composition played by another person who could be getting it wrong. But we sit around, download millions of songs and, after we get through the verse of the song we like, we hit next on our MP3 players.

I really try to be thankful for everything but even I take some things for granted. For instance, my girlfriend often talks about how my Blackberry is always attached to my hand (as it is now). I act like I can't live without it, even though I can.

At the end of the day, all I can do is try to remind myself of what my life could be like. For instance, I know people who refuse to walk a mile down the street. I often ask what they think they would be doing were this 1333 and they say it's not 1333 and, though it's not, humans are still humans. Drink water, and you'll be fine. We are way too high maintenance and we have a long way to go before we realize how far we are from being truly thankful for every blessing.

Just an observation.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Full and Still Starving

And I'm grindin until I'm tired
Cause they said you ain't grindin until you tired
So I'm grindin with my eyes wide, lookin to find
A way through the day, a life for the night
-- DeWayne Carter

I really don’t understand my generation’s lack of drive and work ethic. I was sitting in a meeting with a supervisor from one of my two jobs and it was she who planted the seed for this post in my head. It was my second time interacting with her and she mentioned something about the possibility of me taking a leadership role on the team and moving forward. We continued talking and I said “It’s so much harder to succeed these days because everyone is going to college and getting a degree, which is making mine less valuable,” and she replied by saying something along the lines of “That would be true if all you possessed was a degree. What you have and what many people in your generation fail to realize is that old fashioned manners, work ethic and drive will always be valued and that is something that so many of your peers aren’t getting.” So many of us have stacked resumes, but can’t articulate how those positions led to experiences that shaped the way in which we perform. True, I am the president of BBSA, but who cares? If I can’t shape those 4 letters into a reason that Company-X should hire me over the person who was president of WBSA, does it really matter? Didn’t think so.

That goes to speak to ones ability to communicate. Even though every university requires it, a communications course CANNOT teach you how to effectively communicate. It can enhance our ability to do such, but some things must be learned outside of the classroom and communication is one of those things. Sometimes you have to fail in order to succeed, but so many people don’t even take the first steps toward being stable communicators.

I must say, I am disappointed in our generation for the fact that this is true, but all it means is that those of us who have been able to retain our ancestors’ sense of ownership over whatever task is at hand must step up and become that much stronger. Regardless of race, class, or background, a good leader is a good leader and has the ability to step up to the plate when the time comes and, whether he is leading 5 or 500 million, he will do it well. Those of us who are true leaders, let’s do what we do and do it well. Take a sense of ownership and accept nothing less than the best.

Litera scripta manet. - Unknown

Never Killed Nobody

Work breeds success. That is my firm belief. People wonder why I put so much of myself into whatever I commit myself to and that is the reason. If you don't know how to get the job done, regardless of where others fail, you won't get the end result that you want. Just pulling your weight isn't enough. You have to do your job and, if the person to the right isn't doing his, you pull his weight too. Tiring as it may be, corporate America doesn't care whether or not the whole team did their share; if your name is on that marketing team's report and that report is trashy (for lack of a better word), you run the risk of losing your job. So I could care less whether or not Bob pulls his weight because, at the end of the project, I will still have my job and my family will still be housed and clothed.

Then some wonder, "Well why not wait until you are in that situation to act in that manner? Picking up the slack of your organization members isn't your responsibility." But I subscribe to the school of thought that says that virtues are hard to build up while vices are hard to break down. In other words, you have to get in the habit now of working hard later. I know I don't sleep like I need to. But I've grown accustomed to sleepless nights and have tailored my lifestyle to fit that. I know I don't have enough me time. But if I had enough, I would feel like I wasn't doing anything of any substance. Being busy is what I do. It's who I have been, who I am, and who I will be. I don't neglect those I care about. More than anything I neglect myself, and as "unhealthy" as some might say it is, I feel like the work ethic I have now will allow me to relax when it really matters most - when I have a family. So say what you may. I will be successful and I will be kicking back at my daughter's dance recital on a Wednesday evening at 6pm instead of working late because I will have earned the right to make the schedule as opposed to letting the schedule make me.

Litera scripta manet. - Unknown