A father used to tell his kids when they were still little:
“The day you turn twelve, I’m going to let you in on the ultimate secret to life.”
Sure enough, the day the oldest son celebrated his twelfth birthday, he pulled his dad aside, eager and a little anxious. “Dad, what’s the secret?”
The father looked around, lowered his voice, and said, “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to spoil it for your younger brothers. The secret to life is this: cows don’t give milk.”
The boy looked at him, completely confused. “What do you mean, they don’t give milk?”
“Exactly what I said, son. A cow does not give you milk. You have to go out there and get it. You have to wake up at four in the morning, trudge out to the barn, walk through the muck and the mud, tie down the tail, sit on a little stool, place the bucket, and do the heavy lifting with your own two hands. That is the secret to life. Either you go out and do the work, or your bucket stays empty.”
Yet, we are raising a generation right now that genuinely believes “cows give milk.”
They think everything in life happens automatically and for free. They’ve been conditioned to believe that life follows a simple sequence: I want it, I ask for it, I get it. They are used to having the world at their fingertips without ever having to break a sweat.
But reality doesn’t have an “instant delivery” option. Life isn’t a sequence of wanting, asking, and receiving.
What you get out of life is the direct result of the effort you put into it. True success and happiness are the fruits of your own labor. A life spent avoiding effort only breeds bitterness and disappointment.
That’s why we need to let our kids in on this secret as early as possible. We cannot let them grow up under the illusion that the government, their parents, or just a charming smile will hand them everything they’ll ever need on a silver platter.
Keep this in mind, and pass it down: cows don’t give milk. If you want it, you have to work for it.