“Most people don’t work hard.” These are five simple words I heard about six weeks ago that opened my eyes to what’s been there my entire life. Think about it; most people don’t work hard. No matter what it is, they do the bare minimum. They work at their 9 to 5, they sit at their desk and do just enough work so their boss won’t yell at them, or some athletes will do just enough work in the offseason to barely pass the conditioning test, or some students may scarcely scan the textbook just so they barely pass their exam. Most people don’t work hard.
For the second summer in a row, I’ve decided to spend six weeks of my summer at a children’s sports camp in Maine. The longer the summer went on, the more I realized that the younger generation is full of entitlement, full of “give me” attitudes, with not much desire to work for anything. As I compare it to my generation, not really far off, but simply all people born in the 90s, the distinction is mind blowing.
My parents, as I’m sure your parents did also, taught me that nothing worth actually attaining comes easily. There is much work involved to achieve anything that you want, and if you really want it, you’ll work extra hard to grasp it. The majority of parents today either don’t teach that to their kids, or their kids don’t respect them enough to listen to it. I listen to kids talk about improving at soccer, football, or basketball, but watch them go to practice and complain about sprints or technique drills. I listen to kids say they want to get faster or gain more knowledge in a specific sport, but jog through everything, and talk to their friends when a coach is explaining.
The problem is we excuse it. We say they're just kids and they’ll figure it out when they get older like we did, but they won’t. They won’t because we refuse to check it and nip it in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem. My parents, as strict and as harsh as they were with me, taught me the value of respect, and not only for them, but for every authority figure – teachers, coaches, camp counselors -- and they definitely didn’t come to my defense when those people disciplined me either.
I get it. Every adult is different, every home and family is different, but hard work and respect have to return to common values. Parents do everything for their kids now, which is great until the moment they leave them, and they have no legitimate idea of how things are when mommy’s not there to save them anymore. Most people attempt to go through life by the skin of their teeth, but what separates the normal from the great are those who try to exceed expectations. Those who try everything they possibly can to separate themselves and go above the grain, that's what we need more of. I don't like what I'm seeing from today's kids, but it won't change until we all come together to restore the values that our parents instilled in us.
