Pumping Water

“Hard work is not always fun, but it’s the price you must pay to be more successful.”
Rick Pitino

There once was a young girl who lived on a farm with her family and her chore each day was to milk the two cows on the farm. In order to do so, she had always been instructed by her good father to first pump water in to a basin for the cows to drink as she milked them. Though she loved drinking the creamy milk the cows produced, she absolutely hated pumping water!!

One day she protested to her father stating she didn’t understand why she had to pump water for the cows before milking them. Her father explained how in order to get the milk, she had to pump the water, otherwise the cows could become dehydrated and would stop producing milk. The father also explained how the water calmed the cows and helped them to be still so that she could more easily milk them. Though she did not like the idea, the young girl continued to pump the water before milking the cows.

Much like the young farm girl, we frequently in life want to get the milk without pumping the water. Somehow we believe that milk should flow to use with little effort. However I have learned in life that you have to pump the water to get the milk. The “pumping” or the preparation and hard work we put in to something produces the “milk” or results we desire. Without our pumping efforts, the milk will never come or will dry up quickly.

Sometimes milk may come without pumping water however when this happens, it is usually not as much as we’d like, or as creamy and sweet. I’ve learned that the best milk comes only after vigorously and consistently pumping the water.

In addition, though hard, annoying, and difficult at times, pumping water can and will bring great satisfaction in life when we have the right attitude. The ability to work is a blessing! Many people are not fortunate enough to have the ability or opportunity to work. Likewise, receiving milk without first working for it automatically diminishes its value—for those things we work most diligently for, are the things most dear to us.

Thus, much like the farm girl, we must pump the water to get the milk. When we do, we can be assured the milk will be so much more rewarding and satisfying.