October 30, 2007
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Work as Opportunity
Far and away the best prize that life offers
is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.~ Theodore Roosevelt
Agree or disagree?
Far and away the best prize that life offers
is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
~ Theodore Roosevelt
Agree or disagree?
Comments (8)
Agree
But I’m glad I wasnt the one digging those holes DH was on Saturday. I do other kind of work worth doing.
Blessings fm GA,
Dana
Definitely agree — one of my favorite quotes:
”The greatest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.”
Disagree! I work because I have to, not because I want to. I’ve never had an “occupation” where I derived fulfillment. I derive my fulfillment from my relationship with the Lord, my family and my extracurricular activities so-to-speak. I really wish I could derive some fulfillment from my occupation. I’ve just never been blessed in that way.
I welcome someone telling me the “secret” if there is one.
Definitely “hard work worth doing” is in the Top Five.
But First Prize involves relationship in some way, in my opinion- like watching your newborn smile, or your 7-year-old make his first touchdown.
The quote and your question made me think of the lines in Ecclesiastes where Solomon concludes, after much hand-wringing over the meaninglessness of life,
” Then I realized that it is
good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in
his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has
given him—for this is his lot.
Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables
him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a
gift of God.” Eccl. 5:18-19.
I think it is truly a gift to enjoy our work (not necessarily our JOBS, which may or may not be our only “work”) that is given to us to do. Relationships, of course, are so important to us women. I’d go so far as to say that maintaining relationships is part of the work that we women have been given!
OK, stepping down from the pulpit now…..
Great question as usual,
Sandy
Thanks so much for sharing this. My 13 year old son has become fascinated with Theodore Roosevelt. He is presently reading a biography of Roosevelt by Nathan Miller. I will be using your question for his weekly freewrite if you don’t mind. I know it will be one he will enjoy.
I think that hard work at something worth doing is definitely a gift and a blessing from God, but I don’t believe it is the “best prize that life offers.”
As we homeschool our kids we help them understand the need to create a job for themselves at age 4. That is how our home business started:
Homeschooling and photography is what started our home business. Here is our story:
A quiet walk in the neighborhood with her boys inspired Heather Hall to take a second look at the everyday objects others often pass by. The stay-at-home mom had been teaching her young sons the alphabet. Noah, 4 years old at the time, was the first to see the letters move off the page and into the world around him. “Look Mommy! That tree looks like an E!” Heather, an avid photographer, snapped a picture of three tree branches stretching out side-by-side into what was, in fact, a perfect letter E. Soon there were 26 black and white photographs from their family walks adorning their playroom wall, a lesson about letters blossomed into art.
Heather, with her 4 children in tow, remains the CPO (“chief photography officer”) of Letter Perspectives and her husband Mike, who first encouraged his wife to share her gift with others, handles the business side of things. We love hearing your feedback and look forward to helping you design your own unique creation for home or office. Letter Perspectives can be shipped to residential and business addresses anywhere in North America.
All of the money made from the site is going to help orphans.
You can visit the site at http://www.letterperspectives.com
Thanks!