Hard Yards

I really like what I heard someone say about diligence.  He said there are many ways it is defined but this is mine. “Doing something small for a long time until it’s something big.”
I like that.  It seems short cuts are pretty popular.  A lack of willingness to put in the hard yards and to instantly be top dog - without putting in that which makes a person relatable and loved by those taking the long road either by choice or compulsion.
 I saw it at work.  Someone appointed boss who was unwilling to get down and dirty with me.  Someone who saw themselves as too good to help me.  Merril saw it where she worked.  People unwilling to do what was required believing it was “beneath them”
I honestly cannot relate to that, though I do not judge.  As the saying goes, “there but for the grace of God go I.”  It is not something I extol as a personal virtue, but something I have seen to be avoided.
It definitely is no fun putting in the hard yards.  Short cuts are attractive. But this to me is one thing where short cuts are counterproductive.  Some things are only learned by putting in the hard yards.  Sometimes respect is only gained through the hard yards.
Hard yards definitely mean “short term pain for long term gain.”  It runs contrary to the wisdom of the age.  It seems instant gratification is disguised as a virtue.  Yet the consequence of such actions are ignored.
I ask myself how many are trapped due to an unwillingness to wait?  By an unwillingness to bide my time?  The road to get somewhere may be longer and unbeknown to me at the time it may contain elements I would prefer to avoid.
Yet having done things both ways, I know that doing the little thing for a long time ends better.  Thinking that avoiding doing what is necessary brings long term success is an illusion.  An athlete does not wander over the finish line eating a hot dog and get a prize.  They work at something - sometimes for years for the moment of victory.
The ladies Spanish soccer team did not wander onto the pitch having never practiced and win the world cup.  They put in the hard yards – sometimes in rain, sometimes when they would prefer to stay in bed, sometimes in the cold.
Doing the hard yards makes a difference.  I value what I work for.  Getting there is not always pretty, but it is always appreciated by me and others that aspire.