Prime Your Life For Success – The Water Well Story

After a long day of working in the fields on the first day of harvest, Greg and his nephew Ben made their way behind an old shady barn in hopes of finding some fresh water from the well. As the two got closer to the well Ben’s excitement overtook him and he began to storm towards the pump and began to heave away on the handle.

After a few minutes of vigorous pumping Ben turned to Greg with a look of despair and said “I think we might be out of luck Uncle Greg. I gave it my best, and nothing came out”.

“Not so fast son, you can’t give up so quickly. Who knows, maybe you were only a few pumps away from striking it rich with fresh clear water”, Greg exclaimed.

Ever since Ben’s father passed away Greg has always thoroughly enjoyed filling the loving father role for Ben, helping him to get as much as he could out of life.

Having no initial luck immediately, the two of them began to examine the pump to make sure that everything was in full working order. After a solid review the found nothing out of the ordinary and Greg began to have a go on the old pump. After a few more minutes of pumping with no success Greg suggested that Ben might go grab a bucket and fetch some creek water so they could prime the pump.

“What do you mean prime the pump Uncle Greg?” Ben remarked. “Well, you see here Ben, in order to get water to come out of the spout we need to pour some water down inside the pump to create more of a seal, allowing for more suction and then the water should rise with more conviction. With a little bit of extra effort and persistence we put forward by priming the pump you will find that we will be rewarded with refreshing water in no time.”

Breaking down the method of priming a water pump. Well water pumps need priming before use some times!

“Is this kind of like that old principle of giving before receiving that grandpa always talked about Uncle Greg?”

Greg now leaning against the side of the barn began to light up with the brightest smile and began to respond with delight, “You are absolutely correct Ben! And you will find that principle holds true for many things in life. You need to be willing to put in a lot of effort in life to gain your reward, no matter what you are working on Ben. Just think about this farm for a minute or two, and imagine me standing at the edge of the field attempting to call upon God for a bargain. Imagine if I were to tell God that I would really appreciate a bumper crop harvest this year even though I didn’t take the time to plant any seed. If he would only grant me this wish I would then promise to work extra hard next year and plant twice as many seeds then. How about that for a deal Ben? Do you think God would go for that type of thing?”

Ben shook his head and burst out in laughter, “That’s really silly Uncle Greg. We both know that if you don’t plant any seed, you won’t get any crop. Isn’t that obvious?”

“You’re damn right Ben, you are absolutely 100% correct! If we don’t take the time to work hard this year to plant seed early in the season we won’t be rewarded with a beautiful crop come harvest time, even if I am a good Christian boy who attends mass regularly.”

In recognition of his uncles sly wisdom Ben quickly grabbed the bucket and made his way down to the creek. Upon his return to the barn he found his uncle eagerly awaiting his arrival to share more insight with him.

“Ben, you have really got me thinking here about life and how it works, now and I think I can put this together for you now, so listen up! You know how deep the wells are down here in the south and that the deeper the well is the more work it is to draw upon the water?” Greg questioned.

“Yes sir, I am aware of that”, Ben answered quickly.

But after all that extra hard work we are usually rewarded with a much cooler, clearer and better tasting water than we would ever get from shallower wells that others might be use to, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes sir, I agree”, Ben remarked.

“Well boy, that same logic apply to most things in life. Take for instance the amount of effort and many years of schooling it takes to become a doctor or a lawyer? Don’t you think if it only took a year or two to become one of these professionals that it would it make the profession less valuable to society?

“Well, I guess then everyone would want to become a high profile lawyer bringing in the big bucks then wouldn’t they Uncle Greg?” Ben acknowledged.

“Damn right, they would!”, yelled Greg.

“So would you then agree that because it now takes less work to become a lawyer that it would also now mean that these professionals would get paid much less money each year because their position wouldn’t be as exclusive now?”, Greg questioned.

“No sir, I don’t think it would make much sense to pay them the big bucks if it was that easy to become a doctor or lawyer Uncle Greg”.

“Well son, you just nailed it on the head. This example rings true for most things in life, if it takes little work, then there usually will be little to no reward. You will also find that if it takes a lot of work then most people will give up before they attain their goal. People then use excuses to justify their choice for giving up and settling for something less than they are capable of achieving. Life’s rewards will always follow the efforts placed my son. So in other words, keep your keen eye on your end goal and keep moving forward whether you get knocked down even 10 times”,  Greg explained in a stoic tone. With this kind of unstoppable enthusiasm I can guarantee you will eventually see every goal through in the end. It all comes down to a few simple words that I keep close to me when life gets tough”, Greg exclaimed.

Persistence Breaks Down The Walls Of Resistance

“So you are saying I should never give up on my goal until I see it through, no matter what?” Ben asked.

“That is exactly what I am trying to tell you Ben! When you want to accomplish something greatly in life things will get in your way. You will be faced with a crowd full of naysayers and many a rejection. But always trust that  just because these other people can’t see your vision doesn’t mean that your vision isn’t real or possible for you create in reality”.

“So I guess that means you don’t want me to stop pumping this well lever then, do you? Ben announced.

“Now you’re getting it child! We’ll see this through together. Who knows if you stopped right now and were only one more pump away reaching water!” Greg said with an inspirational tone.

Just as Greg finished his last words the spout erupted with an abundance of water. “Look son, you did it! Your persistence paid off and now you have all the water you could ever want or need. I’m proud of you son. We can drink like kings now”, Greg proclaimed.

” I can’t believe it. I have never seen water pour out of well so fast before Uncle Greg”, Ben cheered.

” Like I said before son, you are always rewarded for hard work in life equal to the effort placed. Now let’s fill that bucket up and make our way home and tell your mother about your hard work and great success today”, Greg announced.