Thursday, September 11, 2014

On Effort


My mother was five foot one.

Looking back, I can only imagine how much trouble that must have caused for her as she chased my brothers and I around the house, trying to keep us corralled and, by the time we were twelve, shorter than every last one of us.

We were a hyperactive brood, and she was a tiny, tiny woman. It’s shocking that she managed to raise us at all, if you think about it.

But there she was, day after day, week after week, doing the things a mother must do, working harder than anyone out to have to, carrying the weight of the family on her shoulders and never complaining.

She inspired me in a lot of ways, she was an inspirational figure, but most of all I think it was this, her work ethic, the way she never gave up and never gave in, that I took from my childhood and went forward into my life with.

It was the dedication with which she applied herself to the task at hand that I now most seek, in my life as an adult, to emulate.

And that’s why, in every job I take, I make sure to do the mini-Mum amount of work possible.

3 comments:

  1. That is not that short I m 5'5 and I have this argument with ppl all the time. 4'5 to 4'9 yeah short over that no average. but I like how that inspired you. Nice writing

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  2. *groooooooan* You HAD to go there, didn't you? :D

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  3. My kids felt all big and bad when they reached a level that they were taller than gramma. Mind you my youngest daughter is short at roughly 5'2". She goes through life knowing the pain of the shorts.

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