Welcome to “Sunday Inspiration,” a bi-weekly devotional for those seeking spiritual encouragement in the pursuit of their passions. Each post comes from an outside resource (as referenced). I hope these posts will inspire and motivate you in your life and career in addition to our weekly original blog posts. Enjoy!
“A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.” Pr 12:11 NLT
In The Finishing Touch, author Chuck Swindoll tells about a man he met who made a great impression on him: “With a grin and a twinkle, he whipped out his hand. It was a hand you could strike a match on, toughened by decades of rugged toil. ‘You look like a man who enjoys life. What do you do for a living?’ I asked.
‘Me? Well, I’m a farmer from back in the Midwest.’
Swindoll asked him, ‘What did you do last week?’
He said, ‘Last week I finished harvesting ninety thousand bushels of corn.’
I then blurted out, ‘Ninety thousand! How old are you, my friend?’
He didn’t seem at all hesitant or embarrassed by my question. ‘I’m just a couple of months shy of ninety.’
He laughed again as I shook my head.
He had lived through four wars, the Great Depression, sixteen presidents, ninety Midwest winters, who knows how many personal hardships, and he was still taking life by the throat.
I had to ask him the secret of his long and productive life.
‘Hard work and integrity’ was his quick reply.
As we parted company he looked back over his shoulder and added, ‘Don’t take it easy, young feller. Stay at it!’
Hard work and integrity! Those two qualities go together, and are the essence of a life well-lived. And when you practice them faithfully, you experience the highest level of joy and fulfillment in life.”
The Bible puts it this way: “A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.”
Source: https://www.jentezenfranklin.org/daily-devotions/hard-work-and-integrity
When I read this, it made me think of my grandfather who worked his farm up until two weeks before he died at age 95.
It also made me think of my clients who come to me with a desire for a more fulfilling life and career.
They want to know if they have what it takes to start their own businesses. They want to know if it’s too late in life to do so. They want to know if their idea is a viable career option or if it’s just a “fantasy.”
First, it’s never too late to start something. Colonel Sanders was around 60 years old when he started KFC. Prior to then he’d had multiple career failures in other jobs and ventures, and his Original Recipe was rejected 1,009 times before it was accepted.
Second, sometimes things are just fantasy, but you have to do the research first to find out or not. Otherwise, you’ll live life always wondering, “What if?” There are ways to test the viability of an idea and that’s something I teach my clients how to do.
Finally, if you have a viable idea, then yes, you have what it takes to be successful if you work hard and do so with integrity!
Lori
