- Question
- What is the punishment for slacking off for a couple of days?
- Answer
- Going to sleep after working almost non-stop from 6:15 AM to 11 PM knowing that tomorrow you will have to finish what is left over.
Sometimes I ask myself why I bother taking such a load of Advanced Placement and honors classes that force me into the above situation. I have enough, or close to enough, knowledge to work in some technological fields, and if that fails I would make a competent clerical or blue-collar worker, which though I would not particularly like, I can easily bear or perhaps enjoy if the people around me are good. The money does not concern me as long as I can provide for a family.
If I do not torture myself so for a career, then I must be in pursuit of knowledge. Indeed I am, but I also learn by reading or tinkering. Besides, some classes overstep education for its own sake and focus on getting that revered college credit. No, school is not for gaining intellect.
The reason I do this to myself is for today’s example. Trying hard and coming so close to not failing is a challenge that builds character, and though next time I will probably do the same thing, I know that when I am procrastinating, the voice telling me that I will suffer will be one notch louder.