Work Hard

That "work hard" phrase is very deceptive. It is as silly to say hard work is the way to wealth as it is to say a big bullet is the way to kill a bear. The bullet has to be associated with the proper rifle -- the hard work has to be associated with the proper situation.

It would be interesting to watch Bill Gates work alongside a typical bricklayer or roughneck for a week. He might do OK, but he wouldn't get rich. If "hard work" was the formula for financial success, I personally know at least a hundred people who would be far wealthier than Gates. I have no doubt that some of you reading this would be far wealthier than he.

My son is a PharmD. He makes pretty good money. One day I heard him say something like, "Yes, I'm making more money than most, but I worked very hard for eight long years -- I earned it".

Now, even though my son's a doctor, he's not stupid. I asked him if he remembered how hard his grandfather had worked in the oilfields -- not for eight years, but most all his life. Then I asked him if his "eight hard years" were harder than those. I think he got my point.

Due to the grace of God, my son was in the right place at the right time with the all the right everythings to make his eight years of "hard work" more financially rewarding than my Dad could. Does he "deserve" any more than my Dad did? Of course not.

It is probably evident that when I hear someone say a rich person "deserves his wealth" because he "worked hard", I get a little irritated.