Posted on 06/13/2007 6:30:17 AM PDT by captjanaway
FSM Contributing Editor W. Thomas Smith, Jr. offers advice to his newly graduated nephew. It’s a letter written for a young man, but all young adults – men and women – would do well to follow its 25 points.
(Excerpt) Read more at familysecuritymatters.org ...
Even God only had 10 basic rules.
Everybody has to “improve” on the original.
If by Rudyard KiplingIf you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Signed,
Too Cool for School
Never work for free?? I mean, listen, we all wanna make money, but there have been numerous times when working for free at the outset got my foot in a door I couldn't have gotten in otherwise. I always say "Do the work first and the rest will follow." If there's a job you want, do it. Be it. Don't wait for permission. If you're good, the rest will follow. This guy has no clue how to hustle and make it in the world. Probably one of those types went straight from high school to college, straight from college to a "career", and hasn't wandered off the path even once.
Everybody felt it.... a moment of eerie silence...........a low rumble and then the ground began to shake. Buildings swayed and buckled and then collapsed like a house of cards. Less than 4 minutes later over 30,000 were dead from an 8.2 earthquake that rocked and nearly flattened Armenia in 1989. In the muddled chaos a distressed father bolted through the winding streets leading to the school where his son had gone earlier that morning.
The man could not stop thinking about the promise he had given his son many times.
"No matter what happens Armand, I'll always be there." Well he reached the site where his sons school had been but saw only a pile of rubble. He just stood there at first fighting back tears....and then took off stumbling over debris running toward the east corner where he knew his sons classroom had been.
With nothing but his bare hands he started digging, desperately pulling bricks and pieces of wall plaster. While others just stood by watching in forlorn disbelief, he even heard someone growl, "Forget it mister they're all dead" He looked up flustered and replied, " You can grumble or you can help me lift these bricks" but only a few pitched in, and most of them gave up once their muscles began to ache. But the man couldn't stop thinking about his son, so he kept digging and digging....... for hours and hours.
12 hours went by..... 18 hours..... 24 hours..... 36 hours......... and finally into the 38th hour he heard a muffled groan from under a piece of wallboard. The man grabbed the board, pulled it back and cried, "Armand!" and from the darkness came a slight, shaking voice, "Papa?" Other weak voices began calling out as the young survivors stirred beneath the still uncleared rubble. Gasps and shouts of bewildered relief came from a few onlookers and parents who remained.
They found 14 of the 33 students still alive. When Armand finally emerged he tried to help dig until all his surviving classmates were out. Everybody standing there heard him as he turned to his friends and said, "See I told you my father wouldn't forget us."
We have a Father like that....-
Dr. Scott Hahn ….from his book "A Father who keeps His promises."
This author's nephew will be hard-pressed to become a military officer without a degree. Sure, he can go the enlisted route, keeping his nose clean and advancing up the enlilsted ranks. In 10 or 12 years, he might be able to make warrant officer, or maybe even become a Mustang. But he'll be limited in what duties he can serve. It'll may be an honorable and decent career, but it'll be middle of the road.
The same holds true for civilian life. You might get a job with a firm, and "work your way up," but you'll (usually) always be looked over the good promotions, to those who set themselves apart with degrees. You'll have a decent career, you'll put food on the table and probably be able to raise a family. But you'll know that inside, you're capable of more.
You might say that people in sales, or maybe those that start their own business are successful, and they are, but those might be a very small percentage of those people in the workforce.
This author's point is that employers look for employees who distinguish themselves from the rest. A "soft" degree may not guarantee you'll rise above mediocrity, but in most cases, any degree is better than none at all.
Now that’s a good story.
I’ll have to copy that to my mom when she signs on.
“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people and I expect the same from them.”
John Wayne in the Shootist.
Great words to live by.
No fruiting the beer!
Some were obvious, Slapshot, Rocky 1-3, True Grit, etc...Some had valuable insights-Red Dawn (forgot about that one). Very interesting exercise.
simply outstanding
thank you
I think his 25-pt advice on becoming a man is broad enough that it can be applied to on becoming a woman as well...
Eh. Being someone's employee has never been the route to ultimate economic success. You have to actually start your own venture to really succeed.
Oldies but goodies: The Long Gray Line, Stars and Stripes Forever. Not quite so old: Ulzana’s Raid.
Yeah, that too!
That may be true, but I don't think it's by virtue of having a diploma. I think it's by virtue of actually being educated, which is another way of saying "learning to think." Some people are lucky enough to have parents that instill that without benefit of formal education, and these individuals are probably likewise ahead of the curve.
Great story!
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