Today, I had the strangest thought. How would I feel if, after all my hard work and effort, I found out that everything I ever achieved was just a result of someone else making it happen for me? As in, this person was in the background, making calls and pulling strings to get me everything I need.
Then, this person will have a report for every time they helped me without my knowledge, how they helped me, and how they made that help come to pass. No matter how tough that situation was, they always came through because this person was a powerful and connected person.
Personally, if I found out something like this, I would cry myself to sleep. For someone like me, I take great pride in my work and my societal status, and what I did to earn it. I’ve never been a person satisfied with just being handed things, I prefer to earn my things and that is what makes everything that comes from it valuable.
So having someone come to say that all the work I put into a particular job was pointless because whether or not I did the job, the results would have been one way whether they liked it or now, it will hurt. Now, if this was known beforehand, it would be a different story. But bringing it all after all the work had been done and telling me I really didn’t do anything, will hurt me.
What makes things valuable many times is not the prize for which they were purchased, instead it is how the money is gotten to pay for it. When things come to you for free, without effort, and with no mark, you tend to devalue them. You will never see it for what it should be and it will be taken for granted. It doesn’t matter how much you wanted, as long as you attach no value to it, all these are sure to happen.
But then, whatever it is that you pay for, there is no way you are not taking that seriously. You won’t buy foodstuffs with your own money and let them rot, or struggle hard to pay your fees only to miss lectures all through the semester. When we work for our stuff, paying the hard price to get them, there is no way we would not value them.
Many times, just knowing that we did all that makes us feel smug and lift our shoulders as we strut around thinking, yes, I did that!
So what am I trying to say here? This life is not easy, I’m beginning to think it was never meant to be. But the difficulties and stress we all go through are what make it worth living. The fight and the willingness to try again are what we move on with. There is never a stage you will get to where you don’t have to work or pay for stuff, but then there is a point where we can make so much money we can have anyone to do the things we didn’t want to do ourselves.
No one likes being called out for their work, especially one which they worked really hard to bring to life. So when you tell them that all that was not done by them, it will do a number on their psyche. What then have they actually done themselves?
But then, this is all in my head. There is no one behind the scenes pulling the strings. Don’t worry, no one will invalidate all your struggles and battles, your prize will still be your prize.
For now.