Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Into The Void

A Harsh Lesson In Reality

First, let me assure you there are no easy grades and nothing is graded on the curve. Now we need to get down to learning.

Many people seem to be under the impression life isn't fair. Guess what, life is neither fair nor unfair. Life is nothing more than the act of living. Fairness doesn't enter into it.

Then there are those who have the mistaken belief they are owed something just for being born. Again, WRONG! The act of being born brings with it only one guarantee and no special privileges. By being born, we are all guaranteed we will eventually die  nothing else. Not money, fame or glory.

These, dear students, are earned by precious few. Why? Well, it's because only a few are willing to make the sacrifices required for these rewards and will persevere to the end of their physical and mental strength, never losing faith in their ultimate goal. The rest of us are just too lazy to bother working that hard.

"I deserve respect and trust," you screech. Sorry, those, too, must be earned. In this life we most often get what we deserve, not what we want.

To be trusted, one must be trusting and trustworthy. Their word must be worth something besides wind passing through the lungs, vibrating the vocal cords and forming syllables and sentences.

Respect also must be earned by hard work, emphasis on hard and work. To earn respect, one must be respectful of others first, expecting nothing in return other than common courtesy. Yes, manners do help.

In earning respect, one must also show they can be trusted. When a promise is made, it must be kept, or the person receiving the benefit of the promise should be notified why if it can't.

As an example, say I agree to help you move across town on a given day. There is much furniture and several large appliances to be loaded and one person can't do the job alone. However, at the appointed time, I don't show up, nor do I call in advance. You, in turn, will lose any respect you had for me, and will not trust anything I say or do in the future.

Many young people talk about being "dissed" or disrespected. However, these same young people show others no respect, show no pride in themselves by the way they dress and act and, in return, will get neither respect nor trust.

"But this isn't fair," you say. Of course not, what is. A fair is where people go to enjoy themselves, ride rides, play games of chance, look at exhibits and livestock.

Fair, today, is more often equated with wants and desires. This is why so many try to keep up with the proverbial Jones's and find themselves financially ruined, or at the very least, under serious fiscal burdens.

If I do a job for you and get a equitable wage for said job, this is fair. I give, you give, we both receive. There are no losers.

Anything above and beyond this is greed. If I do a job for you and you refuse to pay me, this is greed on your part. It would be the same if I demanded more than an equitable sum for the work done.

Greed is rampant today. We, as a people globally, are bombarded by images of material things we are told we must have in order to be popular, better looking, in style, etc...

"All I want is to be happy," you say. Then be happy. It's a choice, not a given.

Each of us have different definitions of happiness. However, most are associated with material possessions  a big screen television, cellular phone, bigger house, newer car, bigger boat  the list is endless. But these are things, and things can't make anyone happy.

Owning the "Mona Lisa" would be nice, but it wouldn't insure happiness. No, students, happiness must be found within the confines of our bodies, minds and souls. We must choose to be happy every minute of every day. It must also be a conscious choice.

Basically, though, class, we get what we earn in life. The only time we have is now. We have no guarantee of being alive 10 minutes from now, next week or next year. Yesterday is a fiction and doesn't exist  the same holds true for tomorrow.

We have now, nothing more. So, let's begin to work at earning respect and trust and making ourselves happy. Each and every one of us can achieve overwhelming results, but it will be on a person by person basis.

Class dismissed  for now.