RESPECT THE SWEAT

Remember when you built a castle in the sand on the beach as a child? You stood admiring your handiwork when you suddenly realise that the tide had risen! The next wave reaches your castle and destroys it before your eyes. If you had been careful in building the castle farther away, it wouldn't have been washed away.

As a child you didn't realise the value of your sweat, therefore you were not diligent and faced the disrespect the waves showed towards your hard work. It doesn't matter whether the castle was big or small; it was a prize of your efforts, your hard work, your smart work, and your sweat!

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Those who say, "Efforts do not matter, only Results do" are not completely wrong, but that does not mean your journey towards the "result" was devoid of your efforts or that you had not sweated it out for the best result. Only you know the road you travelled in your shoes; they didn't. So respect the wear and tear of your shoes, after all those shoes are soaked in your sweat!

Talking about respecting sweat, please remember to respect others' sweat too. Be empathetic with those who put in their best effort but do not achieve the desired result. Validate their effort with a compliment and guide them in improving their endeavour. Let them know that you value their efforts too, not just the outcome.

Allow me to narrate a small incident...

One of the screws from my spectacles had gotten loose and fallen off. So I walked into a modest-looking optical shop close by and asked the person there to fix it. After trying many tiny screws that he didn't find suitable, he finally found the right fit. The search for the right screw took him almost 20 minutes, but just 2 minutes to fix it, clean my spectacles and hand them over to me.

When I asked him for the charges, he at first said it was not required as it was a very small job. On my insistence, he hesitantly asked for Rupees Ten. I put Rupees Thirty in his hand and said, "Rupees Ten are for fixing the spectacles and Rupees Twenty for 20 minutes of your time".

I then went on to tell him, "Certain professionals charge by the hour and people pay them accordingly, irrespective of the outcome. You must respect the efforts you put into the time available at your disposal; you too get only 24 hours like the others. The day you start respecting your efforts, others will learn to pay for your efforts, not for the size of the task they put on your table".

The day everybody learns to respect others' skill and evaluate it on the basis of their efforts, you would see more smiling faces around you in the world.

~ Mazher H. Syed

August 3, 2023.