The Path to Excellence

We are all tempted to seek out short cuts, cut corners and take the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, this inclination also tends to be the path to the least accomplishment, the least meaning and the least pleasure.

Have you ever been in a store and seen, on the wall behind the cash register, an old dollar bill hanging precariously by a couple of pieces of old yellowish tape? That is the first dollar the proprietor of the business ever made. Now imagine that there are two people working in the store: an older gentleman who started the business forty years ago, and his grandson. Every day each of them looks at that dollar bill when they open up the store in the morning, and each has a totally different relationship to that lonely dollar on the wall. To the grandson it may be a piece of family nostalgia, a relic from another era, or just an eye sore. To the grandfather, that dollar bill carries a world of meaning. He sees that bill and derives a deep sense of satisfaction. It represents the business he built, the endless hours he put in at the store, an one of his life’s greatest accomplishments.

The reason these two men essentially see two different dollar bills is because one is looking through the lense of great tol and effort and the other isn’t.

In Jewish wisdom, this principle is known as, “According to the effort is the reward and the pleasure.”

We all want to access our potential in life, but the effort required to do so often deters us.

We all want to accomplish something meaningful, but the effort required to do so often deters us.

We all want to live lives of honesty and integrity, but the effort required to do so often deters us.

We all want to live a life rich with depth and spirituality, but the effort required to do so often deters us.

Remember—“According to the effort is the reward and the pleasure.”

There is no other way to actualize our potential, achieve our goals and realize our dreams.