Chapter 3 The third letter: Heaven and hell are next to each other

Motto: The highest reward of our labor is not what we get, but what we become. If you see work as a pleasure, life is heaven; if you see work as a duty, life is hell. (With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. ) November 9, 1897 Dear John: There is a fable that is very meaningful and touched me a lot.The parable says: In ancient Europe, there was a man who, when he died, found himself in a wonderful place where he could enjoy everything.As soon as he stepped into that paradise, a man who looked like a waiter came up to him and asked, "Sir, what do you need? Here you can have everything you want: all delicious food, all possible entertainment. And all kinds of pastimes, some of which are young and beautiful, are available to you."

After hearing this, the man was a little surprised, but very happy. He secretly rejoiced: Isn't this just my dream in this world!All day long he eats all the delicacies and delicacies, and at the same time enjoys the taste of beauty.One day, however, he was bored with all this, so he said to the waiter, "I'm tired of all this, and I need to do something. Can you find me a job?" He didn't expect that the answer he got was a shaking of his head: "I'm sorry, my sir, this is the only thing we can't do for you here. There is no work for you here." Frustrated, the man waved his hands angrily and said, "This is too bad! Then I might as well stay in hell!"

"Where do you think you are?" said the waiter gently. John, this humorous fable seems to tell me: Losing a job means losing happiness.But it is a pity that some people can only realize this after losing their jobs. What a pity! I can proudly say that I have never tasted unemployment. This is not because of my luck, but because I never regard work as a joyless drudgery, but I can find infinite happiness from it. In my opinion, work is a privilege that brings more to life than sustains it.Work is the foundation of all business, the source of all prosperity, and the shaper of genius.Work enables a young man to do more than his parents, no matter how rich they may be.Work expresses itself in the humblest savings and lays the foundations of happiness.Work is the salt that flavors life.But one must first love it, and work can bestow the greatest favor and produce the greatest results.

When I first entered the business world, I often heard that it takes a lot of sacrifice to reach the top.However, as the years passed, I began to understand that many people who were climbing to the top were not "paying the price".They work hard because they truly love work.People who climb up the ladder in any industry are fully committed to what they are doing and focused on it.If you really love what you do, you will be successful. Loving work is a belief.With this faith we can hew the mountain of despair into a rock of hope.A great painter said it well, "The pain will pass, but the beauty will remain".

But there are people who are clearly not bright enough, have ambitions and are overly picky about their jobs, constantly looking for the "perfect" employer or job.The truth is, an employer wants employees who work on time, are honest and hardworking, and he only gives raises and promotions to employees who work extra hard, are extra loyal, are extra zealous, and spend more time doing things, because he is running a business and Not doing charity work, what he needs are those who are more worthy. No matter how great a person's ambition is, he must at least start first before he can reach the peak.Once you get started, it's not too difficult to keep going.The more difficult or unpleasant the work, the more it needs to be done right away.The longer he waits, the more difficult and scary it becomes, it's a bit like shooting a gun, the longer you aim, the less chance you have of shooting.

I will never forget my first job as a bookkeeper. Although I had to go to work at dawn every day, and the whale oil lamp was dimly lit in the office, that job never let me down. Instead of being boring, it fascinated and delighted me, and even all the bureaucracy in the office couldn't make me lose my enthusiasm for it.And the result is that employers keep giving me raises. Income is just a by-product of your work. If you do what you should do well and do the work you should do well, the ideal salary will definitely come.And more importantly, the highest reward for our labor lies not in what we get, but in what we become because of it.Those with active minds work hard for more than money, and what keeps them going is something nobler than the mere desire to make money—they are engaged in a fascinating career.

To be honest, I am an ambitious man. I wanted to be rich since I was a child.For me, Hewitt-Tuttle, where I was employed, was a great place to exercise my abilities and test my skills.It acts as a sales agent for various commodities, owns an iron mine, and operates two technologies that make it survive, that is, the railway and telegraph that revolutionized the American economy.It brought me into the interesting, vast and splendid business world, taught me to respect figures and facts, allowed me to see the power of the transportation industry, and cultivated the ability and quality that I should possess as a businessman.All of these have played a great role in my future business.I can say that without the experience in Hewitt-Tuttle Company, I might have made many detours in my career.

Now, whenever I think of Mr. Hewitt and Mr. Tuttle, I can't help but feel grateful. That period of working life was the beginning of my life's struggle and laid the foundation for me to rise up. I will always be grateful For those three and a half years, I am grateful for the experience. Therefore, I never complained about his employer like some people, saying: "We are nothing but slaves, we are crushed in the dust by our employers, but they are high above, enjoying themselves in their beautiful villas; their safes are full of money. For every dollar they have, they squeeze us honest workers." I don't know if these complainers are thinking irregularly: Who gave you employment?Who gave you the possibility to start a family?Who gave you the possibility to develop yourself?If you are already aware that someone is exploiting you, why don't you end the exploitation and walk away?

Workbench is an attitude, it determines whether we are happy or not.They are also stonemasons, and they are also sculpting stone statues. If you ask them: "What are you doing here?" one of them may say: "You see, I am chiseling stones. You can go home." This kind of person always regards work as punishment, and the word he spits out most often is "tired". Another might say, "You see, I'm making statues. It's hard work, but it pays well. After all, I have a wife and four children who need food and clothing." He regards work as a burden, and one of the words he often spits out is "supporting the family".

The third person may put down the hammer, point to the stone carving proudly and say: "You see, I am making a work of art." This kind of person is always proud of his work and takes pleasure in his work. One of my favorite words is "this job is very meaningful". Both heaven and hell are built by ourselves.If you give meaning to your work, no matter how big or small the work is, you will feel happy, and no matter how high or low your self-set achievements are, you will have fun in your work.If you don't like doing it, any simple task will be difficult and boring, and when you scream that the work is tiring, you will feel exhausted even if you don't work hard, and the opposite is very different.That's the way it is.

John, if you see work as a pleasure, life is heaven; if you see work as a duty, life is hell.Check out your work ethic, it'll make us all happy. love your father