I remember sitting in oral communications class in high school listening to my teacher talk about quotes and life and the rest I'm not sure I remember.

For some reason, I caught one thing she said and it changed my view of life forever. It's funny how teachers somehow manage to do that.

Someone stated they wanted to get rich by having other people doing stuff for them. She pointed out that the only we to get someone to do work for you was to already be rich.

But that's not what changed my life.

It was when she said, "Remember, the grass may be greener on the other side, but the lawn still has to be mowed".

That really stuck with me

In an instant I knew what she meant. Nothing in life is free. Maybe some things don't require monetary investment, but at the least it's going to require time and energy.

I have thought about this quote so much since that day and it makes me a little sad to know I'll never be able to tell her what an impact she's had on my life since that day.

Applying This Quote To My Life

There have been plenty of times where I thought I'd just sit back and benefit by watching someone else be successful in whatever it was they were doing. Sure, they were successful, but they were the only ones who benefited and I got no joy from it at all.

I thought of that quote and then I applied it to my life. How? I thought about what it was that I wanted from life and more importantly I mapped out a plan (a few plans actually) of how I'd reach my desired goal.

Every single plan I'd made required work, dedication and persistence. I realized I had to mow my own lawn.

Since then, I've never forgotten that lesson. Anytime I see someone successful I think "Wow, I bet they mowed a big lawn". At first I thought it was a silly thing to think but then I got comfortable with the thought because it is my own way of reminding myself to not stop. It's going to take work.

When there was no money, work was all there was whether it was lawn upkeep or creating goods with your bare hands for trade.

I think people get so caught up in the benefits that they forget how they were earned.

Great Things Happen

When one realizes like I did that everything is earned, not simply handed out, great things happen. A person becomes more self aware. They become confident because they've now been enlightened.

I have always looked at it like finding a flashlight in a dark tunnel. Right before I was going to give up and finding that light not only made me excited but it gave me the strength to go on.