Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday February 26, 2009

In the February issue of my monthly paper, "Larry Lilly’s Journal" The Great Blonde reviewed "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, the story of Randy's battle with cancer which he lost last summer. It is truly a great book.

Randy tells of a conversation he had with peers concerning his early tenure, prior to his marriage. The question was: "Wow, you got tenure early, what was your secret?" Randy's answer is classic:

"It's pretty simple. Call me any Friday night in my office at ten o'clock and I'll tell you."

Randy reminded the readers that this statement was PRIOR to his marriage and fatherhood.

The idea of loving what you do and making the moments count toward making what you do better is largely lost on people nowadays. I meet people all the time who possess average intelligence, put forth average effort, yet they somehow feel they are entitled to the prestige and income of a dog tired higher level Mensa brain surgeon.

In real worlds you will be compensated in accord with the value of the skill, and focused effort that you bring to the table.

I have known many very successful entrepreneurs who knew in their heart they loved what they were doing, but also understood that the so called "trappings of success" would be used mostly by their offspring who will waste his or her fortune on such things.

I interviewed a man one time to see if he would fit our organization. Right out of the chute he wanted to know his starting time, how many breaks and what time of day the work was over. I told him and then answered his more important questions such as how about vacation, is my wife expected to attend this church and if I counsel with someone on Sunday after church, do I get an equal amount of time off on Monday or Tuesday? I did NOT hire him, for he lacked even a modicum of understanding the often brutal schedule this work demands and if you don't love it, you really should go drift elsewhere. Years later this man now works in what he considers demeaning labor utterly convinced that he is working well beneath his entitlement. My opinion is that he is well suited for work in the lower story of a two story outhouse. But then, what do I know.

"The heights by great men reached
And kept
Were not attained by "sudden flight"
But they; while their companions slept
Were toiling upward in the night."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2009 Use with credit

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