The concept that hard work will eventually pay off is one of the primary motivations behind our form of government. Americans, at least the ones who remain employed, are said to work some of the longest weeks without as much annual vacation as much of the rest of the civilized world. Some historians pin the American work ethic on Germany, which, given the work ethic of my German grandmother, I could easily believe. But, as it turns out, Germans work on average fewer hours, with higher productivity, and greater quality of life, than most Americans, according to some measures. Obviously there is more to it than a simple [hard work] = [good pay] equation.
The concept of hard work was instilled in me by my family when I was young. So how did I celebrate this Labor Day? At 57 degrees it was downright COLD this morning for running, especially as I think back to two days ago when it was above 90. I'm still recovering from the 10 miles I did on Saturday, so I took today's 3 miles at a leisurely pace. My route was filled with other runners also laboring away. I imagine we all preferred to be sunning ourselves at the beach rather than running, but would have had to travel 200 miles south to do so without shivering at the same time. Instead, the group of us invested our cool cloudy morning working hard to improve our mental and physical fitness. I worked on a math calculation as I was running. If I had a Lincoln penny for every second I've run since I began this venture, I would be $1667.52 richer than I currently am. The thought occurred to me, is this worth the work? I'm banking on it.
Até amanhã...
9/5/11 - 3.2 miles | 37 min | 5.2 mph | 338 kcal
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