Dear Kid,

First of all, this rant is not about you. But if it applies to you sometime in the future, feel free to reread it.

Suggestions for how to sleep. Snoring optional. DearKidLoveMom.comSecond of all, I looked it up. As in actual research (I’ll pause while you sit in stunned amazement for a minute).

According to the Dictionary, “work” is:

  1. activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something:

a: sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result

b: activity that a person engages in regularly to earn a livelihood people looking for work

c: a specific task, duty, function, or assignment often being a part or phase of some larger activity

  1. a: energy expended by natural phenomena

b: the result of such energy sand dunes are the work of sea and wind

c: the transference of energy that is produced by the motion of the point of application of a force and is measured by multiplying the force and the displacement of its point of application in the line of action

I point out these definitions because I have recently been surprised, perplexed, and even confounded by how some people approach the activity of work. While some (maybe even most) people lean in and put their shoulder to the proverbial grindstone, others are less, um, dedicated. These are the people I’m confused by.

They want the success that comes with hard work, yet they seem to feel that breathing is sufficient to entitle them to that success. They opine that 20% effort should return 200% results. This is against the laws of physics, mathematics, and common sense, yet somehow these people are surprised to wake up every day and find the money fairy still hasn’t blessed them with endless riches.

I don’t get it.

If you figure it out, let me know.

In the meantime, work hard.

Love, Mom