It's Worth The Work It Takes

It’s Worth The Work It Takes.

John Paul Derryberry

My two girls and wife are sleeping the night away after a long day, and my now very adult nephew is visiting from Ohio. I'm watching the last bit of Olympic coverage on Saturday and wondering how to locate a stop button on life. It was about as perfect of a day as one can have and a rather ideal summer. Two family vacations, swimming galore, camping, reconnecting with friends, and my girls dove head first into getting into the Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles. For this 80s baby, that is a dream come true. It's not the first time I would hit the stop or slow down button. There have been considerable downs in my life. Still, there have been many more moments I would love to have soaked in slow motion time, to cement them into my memory as firmly as possible, or examine it from every angle possible.

I often chuck it up to luck, being in the right place at the right time, or a combination of the two. I guess discussing all the hard work from different people in my life and myself to get to this would not be easy. But more importantly, it worries me that it will somehow jinx it. As I said, I worked extremely hard to get to this life, setting a series of events to take away this remarkable moment in motion. The truth is something will happen to knock life off-kilter, but it always does. There is no way around it; the best we can do is live in the great times as long as possible and extend them to their most extraordinary lengths through luck, being in the right place, and a lot of hard work.

But this Sunday, I will risk the jinx and discuss some of the work to get to this point. It's a lot, to be exact, and we often downplay the work it takes to get to a good spot in life. I know the mathematical equation to success is different for many and confusing to everyone. And because of that fact, we don't take the time to look around and realize all the work we did to get where we feel good about life. I know all the work my wife and I have done to get to this point, and our support system has worked.

I'm constantly pushing myself to be a better person and a good husband, dad, friend, son, sibling, uncle, ally, and community leader. I'm sure there are roles I'm leaving out. I am constantly searching for knowledge or the correct amount of flexibility to create room to grow. It's all hard work for me and other folks in my orbit. It's easy to forget our work, downplay it as luck, or dispel it to other factors. We shouldn't do that; we should own it. And it's about time I go first. My wife and I worked hard for a day like Saturday and a summer like this; we deserve it. Many people deserve good times, probably way more than we think. Did it take some luck to occur? Yes. Did we have to be in the right place at that right time? Sure, lots of times. Do we get a lot of help from our support system? Yes, we do; they work hard, too. But did we work hard to get days like this for our girls and each other? Yes, more than we are probably willing to admit. But every good thing in life takes work, and the work is worth it.