Thursday, October 2, 1997

Shortcuts

If you seek only the reward, even if somehow you are able to get it, it has no meaning. Seek instead to be worthy of the reward, and whether you “get” it or not, you will have it.

What good is the reward without the effort and the accomplishment? What meaning does it have? Far better to deserve a reward which you do not win, than to win a reward you don’t deserve.

Anything that is precious and valuable -- whether it is a diamond, an idea, a luxury automobile, a personal relationship, or a growing business -- derives its value from the effort put forth to create or obtain it. To have the value without the effort is impossible, because the effort is the value. To desire the reward without the accomplishment, is to miss the point entirely.

Yet so often we seek shortcuts, instant jackpots that will make everything better overnight. That is such a terrible waste, because the time, the hopes, the expectations we invest in the pursuit of “something for nothing” bring very little fulfillment.

If you try to reach your destination without making the journey, you’ll get nowhere. Instead, get on with the journey, and the destination will grow closer by the minute.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1997 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.