Happy Friday everyone!
It seems in our current times, now more than ever, we are losing our self-reliance and relinquishing our willingness to do for ourselves. We can see this locally, throughout our state, nationally, and globally. There seems to be more reliance on others, especially the government, to solve our problems. Now, I don't intend to get into the political aspects of this. Rather, I would like to focus this message on what we can do to regain our self-reliance. Self-reliance is an essential element of being a productive adult. Of course when we were little we had to rely on others, but as we grow and mature we should be developing more self-reliance. There are three key ingredients to self-self reliance; time, effort, & work.
Time is one of our most valuable resources and we should be intentional about how and where we spend it. If I want something better, then I must devote the time to it. In today's world, we are busier than ever, but if it is important to us we should devote time to it. We are in control of how and where we spend our time.
Put in the effort. Part of developing self-reliance is developing the ability to put forth effort. Understanding that giving effort does not mean immediate success. Effort comes without excuses and it yields failures and successes. Outcomes should not dictate effort. Effort does not have to be given alone. We can collaborate and combine our efforts with others. The key to this is everyone has to give their effort. Collaboration means to co-labor.
Do the work. If you find it is easy, do the work. If you find it hard, do the work. If you fail, do it again in a different way, but do the work. Nothing is ever free. If you are getting something without working for it means you are losing something in the process. That something may be your opinion or voice, your freedom to choose, or your value or worth. Take cheating for example, it may get you the result you want, but it takes away the learning that was to take place. Do the work to keep your voice, enjoy your freedoms, and show your value.
Time, effort, and work will secure our ownership, strengthen our values, and raise our self-reliance. As adults we need to remind ourselves that we are responsible for developing this self-reliance in our children. This is not an easy endeavor because there is no roadmap or exact method, but that will not keep us from putting in the time, effort, and work to help our kids develop self-reliance.
Happy Friday!!