Things I should have told my sons
Eventually you learn things.
Unfortunately by the time you do your kids have grown up and somehow you missed the chance to impart the wisdom. So here it is boys. On the odd chance you ever find my blog. Or someone else chooses to share it with you. These are the musings of an older me. One that loved you always, largely imperfectly, but always with the best intent.
Lesson one: life gives you back what you invest in it.
The return on your investment in life, in love, in work, in exercise, in friendship, in community … will be in direct proportion to the effort you expend.
If your job isn’t going quite right … check the energy you are committing towards it. Things not working out with your girlfriend. Stare at yourself hard in the mirror and be honest about your own level of commitment. Want more, give more. Want less, do less, Confused, do more and somehow the confusion will lift.
Nobody tells you this in school. But you should have figured it out by reading the report card. What’s the first column of measurement? Attendance. Simply showing up earns you a passing grade. True in school, true in life.
From that point forward its all a question of investment. Time. Energy. Passion. The more aggressively you pursue, the greater the likelihood to earn accolades. Dog it, you get dogged.
I should have made this clear when you were little. But I wasn’t sure. I thought it was talent, or magic or happenstance or genetics or some other sublimely stupid excuse I made for myself every time the world didn’t work out my way. And it is to an extent true that where we start out is a hinderance to where we end up.
But in the end, the final outcome is far more a reflection on your own personal investment than it is on social circumstance.
Your definition of success is wholly your own to choose. However you define it, I am certain you can only achieve it by giving yourself entirely to it.
Easier said then done boys. But you know that already.
