Earn it.

There is no sweeter feeling in the world than actually earning something.

I remember 2011 clearly, the new Toyota (GT86, if you must know) was about to be released. I was saving hard, working in pretty much all of spare time, taking midnight shifts and, no matter what, I just wouldn’t be able to afford one. By some miracle, even if I could afford to buy it outright, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the running costs. I remember one car ride home from school, my parents felt bad that they couldn’t afford to buy one for me.

I remember thinking that it was a foreign concept to me to even hear that someone would even think about buying my goal for me, taking away any sense of achievement. I held the thought in my head for a split second and knew it was totally wrong - I would rather not have it, then have it given to me. I wouldn’t have done anything to earn it. No time, energy, effort used on my part - what an absolute joke?

If I look at this from an educators perspective, you should never take away an opportunity for someone to learn, no matter how much you want to intervene to save them time, pain, energy. If you remove someone from actively being in the learning process, they are disconnected from the experience. All you do my helping is turn a driver into a passenger. Everytime I see a learning opportunity arise in life, I make sure to keep my distance until absolutely necessary, being mindful of only providing questions, not answers, to guide someone. Like the story of the butterfly hatching from it’s cocoon, helping only acts a disservice to the insect, no matter how difficult the struggle it must endure, it has got to do it’s thing and flex it’s muscles - let’s not forget that it’s what they were made to do!

The more independent you can become in life, the better. The less you expect of the world, the better.

Exercise your endurance, expand your skills set, remain focussed on your goals and get out there and earn something for yourself.