To Qualify for the Future…

With the ever increasing importance of preparation, some simple, basic thoughts suggest themselves for young people who are searching for a future. We see those who drop out; those who refuse to prepare; those who become discouraged and give up. By contrast, we see those who seem to be engaged in a race with time, with pressure, haste and hurry. To those who do too little and give up too easily we could perhaps do no better than cite again this observation of Emerson: “The future belongs to those who prepare for it.” No one is likely to find himself better prepared than he is willing to pay the price for⎯than the effort he is willing to give for acquiring competence. Those who are inclined to quit, would well face the fact that preparation has importance far beyond what can be calculated, and that there is more and more demand for those who are well trained, and less and less need for those who are not. Now as to those who are honestly seeking to qualify for the future: It is still true that experience needs to be added to “book learning,” as some would say it. Despite all technical training, all academic credentials, there still needs to be a time of seasoning, of maturing, of proving the ability to perform, which includes not only knowledge, but experience and judgment. The patient would still rather have the seasoned physician; the client would rather have the experienced lawyer, the business would rather have the manager who has proved he can meet a payroll, can operate at fair profit, can remain solvent; can produce and improve and sell a product. Positions of trust still seek those who have proved they can live with principles. And so, as always there is still need for preparation and patience and performance. The practical must balance the academic. It is difficult⎯if not impossible⎯for a person to be “saved” in ignorance or in unpreparedness. “The future belongs to those who prepare for it.”