What Will You Be? – Slinkard On Success

By: D. A. Slinkard

We live in the greatest nation known to man! We really do! I mean seriously think about all of the opportunities that exist in our country! We have so many people throughout the world who would give anything to make it to the free world, including their life. We have so many people who are willing to try anything to make it to the United States of America, yet too many of us aren’t satisfied with where we are. I think about my great-grandparents and the difference in who they were compared to who we are today. Big difference in the way they lived their life versus the way we live ours; and if you don’t believe me, I want you to think about indoor plumbing.

One sign of getting older is when you start to use terminology that the kids of today do not know or understand. When was the last time you heard someone say they were going to use the “outhouse”? For you millenniums out there, the outhouse is where people used to have to go when they had to go…number two. It really wasn’t that long ago when people had to go outside if they were going to find some relief.

Although we live in the greatest country known to man, we still have people saying that life isn’t fair, and they demonstrate their ability to be real crybabies. With many people, they live in the land of excuses, not the land of opportunities, and we have done the damage to ourselves. Each generation tries to do more for their kids, and we have gone from a robust generation to a generation comprised of sissies. We have participation trophies for showing up; we have all of these awards so no one feels left out. We want everyone to feel like winners, but the reality of life is that there will be losers.

We live in this great country, yet the realization is that everyone wants to eat but far few people are willing to hunt. I think this best epitomizes our society in that everyone wants to make sure they get their piece of the prize, but the majority of the people are unwilling to pay the price. There are hunters and there are gatherers; the question becomes – what are you? For the person who is not finding success, this could be because they are waiting on someone else to make it happen for them.

Can you imagine if Henry Ford would have waited; what if Thomas Edison would have waited? How far behind would our society be? Seriously, think about what life would be like if Al Gore hadn’t invented the Internet? Families would not be ignoring each other at dinner time with their phones out. Sometimes our inventions hurt us just as much as they help us. News alert – Al Gore didn’t really invent the Internet.

We live in the greatest country known to man and at some point in time, we must stop doing the same routine over and over. If we repeatedly do the same thing, we will keep getting the same results we have always gotten. When will we say that enough is enough with the way things are and change how it is going to be from here on out? When are we going to go from merely wanting to eat to becoming the actual hunter? Every one of us have the same opportunities to make a choice, and every day we make that choice. Some people make a choice that moves them closer to their dream, while others make the choice to make an excuse.

There will always be bad or difficult things that happen to each one of us, but what matters most is how we respond. I had major surgery in March, and I can tell you my mindset is that this is merely a minor setback for a MAJOR comeback. Sure I could think negative, and I could be all doom and gloom with the world around me…but what good does that do? How enjoyable would this article be if all I did was talk about how bad life is? We have enough negativity in the world, just turn on the news; but we can make positive change in our lives one day at a time. It all starts with the decisions we make daily, will you be the bug or will you be the windshield?
By: D. A. Slinkard
D.A. Slinkard is the manager of the Athens Staples store