Living as a monk

"I am not motivated by financial reward to do well" was my first thought.

We have all been surrounded by thoughts and discussions on the future president. This question finds it's way into every part of our life. Our tri-club forum has been entertaining one through the weekend and it has continued through this hour.

The questions before us are so important. I think we all know this. We all have so much at stake. The future is so uncertain.

I have been grouped with the left in this discussion. I have been told I believe certain ideals because I felt a specific way about a different issue.

Mostly I have been cast as somebody that has his hand out and is unwilling to work. I am an advocate of slack! I want to teach Americans to sit on their couch and eat corndogs. I want us to collect welfare checks and make the rich bleed every cent until I am satisfied things are even.

In a response to a rant I said"wealth and poverty have little to do with hard work".
This was not received very well by some of my right wing friends.
My point was that hard work is no promise of wealth. great finanial wealth only finds a few of us. In the US it finds many of us while many US workers still live in poverty. In many third world nations a great majority live in poverty despite their greatest efforts.
On the reverse of course we have those that work the least and enjoy the most. I could take a shot at GW here but instead I will stick with the Paris Hilton example.

This was misinterpreted as me saying that hard work lacked importance. Somebody made a statement declaring that money was what motivated people to work hard.

I felt sad at this thought. I thought to myself, I do what I do well because I want to do everything well. I want to swim, bike, run, sing, strum, eat, live, and be well.

I want to be the person I want us all to be. I work hard because my coworkers are counting on me. I work hard because I am involved in the act of doing.

If I needed money to work hard, I would not be an Ironman. I know of nobody in triathlon who is in it for the money. Yet we all work hard for the sport. As a musician, I may get lucky one day. Someone may buy a song, and I will be able to invest a bit. But that is not what makes me sing.

It is hard for me to imagine Sister Madonna Buder or Chrissie Wellington not being hard workers despite not earning lots of dough. Sometimes I think we have completely lost touch with what is important in this world. I worry that the hardest workers are often overlooked and taken for granted. If we fail to make lots of money for our efforts, does it mean we did not do our best? Does it mean that our work lacks importance?

I guess I try to live as a monk. I live simply. I do my chores and earn my keep. I train and practice. I contemplate. I write. I am not getting rich this way, but I am proud of my work.
I know I have put forth my best.