The Apprenticeship of Success

Since it is Labor Day week I thought it only appropriate to speak on one of my favorite topics and that is work or labor.  My little dictionary app on my phone defines labor as “productive activity, especially for the sake of economic gain.” 

One of the tragedies of our modern era is the pursuit of “economic gain” without labor.  Much of society has become obsessed with gaining something for nothing.  This get-rich-quick attitude unfortunately deprives us of the greatest satisfaction, learning, and discipline that come from working hard to gain riches. 

When we have economic gain without labor, the sweetness of our success is lost and tragically the maturation and discipline necessary to retain the riches is never achieved.  For this reason, we find all too often people who “inherit” success literally go from riches to rags.

We can learn from this that there is a certain apprenticeship that one must go through in order to obtain lifelong riches or success.  This apprenticeship usually requires great effort and substantial sacrifice.  It requires sweat, toil, and tears.  It must be so important to us that we give up a lot in order to get it and through this process; it can never be taken away from us because we’ve learned how to be successful or rich—it literally resides within us.  When we cheat this system, this natural law, and gain or inherit riches too easily, my guess is 9.999 times out of 10, our riches won’t last. 

To truly be successful and enjoy the blessings and happiness of economic gain, we have got to earn it through “productive activity”, hard work, sacrifice, and time.  Therefore, let us take joy and pleasure in our labor, especially during this time of year as we pursue our goals and dreams.