Be prepared!

Reality is a harsh taskmaster. When the reality of the dream of easy life comes crashing down, the dreamer has nothing. They think want is all they need. That without working towards something you can achieve anything you desire. It is like a couch potato who decides to become a marathon runner, who does not feel the need to train. Why run when you can sit and watch television. When the race day comes he shows up expecting to compete, to succeed, to win. Only to be the miserable failure that he has allowed himself to be. That is the harshness of reality. It is cold, true, and hard. It’s like the story of the grasshopper and the ant, where the lazy fun loving grasshopper spends his day doing nothing, watches the ants working hard, and ridicules them for it. The ants spend all summer storing up food reserves to survive the winter. When winter finally came the ants were fine, the grasshopper, he was not prepared, was unable to accept responsibility for his actions, and he starved to death. The lesson is simple, hard work is needed to ensure you survive in this life. There are many grasshoppers in this world that live a life of ease. They have a strong feeling of right of entitlement, in other words they have a right to whatever they feel that they deserve. They hold their hands out, because that is all the hard work they feel they should do. This reminds me of the flea on the old Looney Toons cartoons, singing “Oh the world owes me a living…” When the world doesn’t give in to the grasshoppers will, they cry that it’s not fair, they forgot rule number one. Once you understand and accept responsibility that your actions impact the outcome you desire. You begin to look for patterns in yourself, your life, and your actions. You see the mistakes you make, how that you have control over yourself, and only yourself. So many people blindly attempt to control everything. Control of everything is impossible. It isn’t worth the time or effort one puts into it. You are left angry, frustrated, and confused. Stop trying to control anything but yourself. Growing up in the Southern part of West Virginia was an adventure unto itself. A lot of what I learned about human nature came from my early years. My kindness towards others was formed in this world, that many would view as old fashioned. My want and desire to help others and maybe make the world a better place came from here. My sister felt the same way, so she became a Cardiac doctor. I choose the psychology field. We both used what we were taught as children to try and make the world a better place.I was blessed with two very supportive and loving parents, and a wonderful sister. My parents taught me all the life lessons I would need to survive in this world. They taught me compassion, love, independence, and what it is to be a good person. They made sure that I was raised to understand the three R’s, responsibility, respect of others and myself, and reality is tough, but you can make it. I was enrolled in the Boy Scouts of America, where I learned many life lessons, and truly believe the motto, “be prepared.” It is such a simple yet powerful viewpoint. As long as you are prepared for life, you will be successful.