One of the other tales that my mother used to tell me was the one about Joselito.
One day Joselito went to the seashore and noticed that there were thousands of sea stars deposited there by the waves. Joselito had a strong feeling of sadness when he realized that the low tide was taking place and that in short time all of them would be dead. Without thinking twice, he started collecting them obstinately one by one, and throwing them into the sea. He was running continuously back and forth trying to save them.
A man was looking the whole scene and, after a while, he told to Joselito: “What are you doing? You can’t be so naïve! There are thousands of sea stars and you won’t be able to save them all. Can’t you realize that your efforts aren’t worthwhile?” Joselito looked at him very seriously, bent himself, picked one of the sea stars up with his fingers throwing it into the sea and, looking intensely the gentleman spoke to him: “for that sea star it was worthwhile.”
“Carlos, our work is our health and it is a good remedy for many diseases. In this world, only through hard work and by developing your skills you will be able to become an independent person. These skills will be your biggest treasure.”
Work ennobles man. And every time I feel tired after a long working day, I always think about the farmers of my country that I was able to hear whistling at 5 a.m., even though they were going to do some very tough earth work for the whole day. Now, remembering those scenes, I believe that the art of resting is part of the art of working, and if you smell the after completing a task, they have a different scent.
To establish goals to reach without working is utopia, to work without goals is a hobby. To work having a goal, a target is a utopic hobby, but –sooner or later- it’ll bring you to something! To believe that success is not connected to work is dodger’s dream and, as for everything, big results are fruits of hard work and perseverance, because big ideas are nothing if you don’t work on them and develop them: they remain solely ideas. A genius can start to do big projects, but just working one can complete them and, as my father used to say: “Carlos, you can believe in luck or not. But always remember that, the harder you work, the more lucky you’ll become.” In the end, the things you earn by hard working, you appreciate them way more.
To work with love and passion is the secret to happiness, and there is no work that is despicable, there are only despicable people that are not interested in working. Work is as a sweet that sweetens up your life; but, unfortunately, not everyone loves sweets. People don’t know that laziness consumes more than work; and, if someone tells you that he doesn’t need to work in order to survive, he’ll always need to work in order to stay healthy. When weed starts growing up in someone’s garden, if he doesn’t react, it will be just a matter of time before the weed will overwhelm everything.
I thought about all of this after a concert by Julio Iglesias, who kindly invited me, and where I saw him on stage with the same passion and enthusiasm as always, even though he is almost 71. Julio has a big gift in being able to do the work he does, or maybe the gift is the work? In that moment I remembered Joselito’s story
By Carlos Dorado
Source: Runrun.es
