Reader Finds My Article on Income and Education Interesting, But Wonders "Why Our World Is So Much Less Perfect Today?"

Ed's Jobs and Careers:

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

(Editor's Note: Steve emailed me about my article titled "There Is No Huge Correlation Between Education and Income and Here Is Why". Enter the article title into the search feature in the upper left box and click search; this will bring up the article from the archives for you. Here is his email and my response.)

"Good Morning Ed,

These were very interesting perspectives. There is much truth to the premise that financial success can be achieved without extensive educational debt.

It is unfortunate that in this day and age, many have to choose between personal fulfillment and generating a reasonable salary.

I have been dating a high school teacher who has been in her profession for many years. She genuinely enjoys her students, believes that she is able to make a difference in some lives, and she has skills that allow her to share things that will be of benefit to her students.

Unfortunately, on a teacher's salary, her lifestyle is almost Spartan.

Could she find another profession that would allow her to generate a better income? Likely. Would it be as emotionally rewarding to her? Doubtful.

We do not live in a perfect world but why is it so much less perfect than 30 years ago?"

Hi Steve,

Thanks for reading my article. Every now and then someone takes the time and effort to email me with a comment or question. I try to respond when this happens but not reveal their full identity.

As a former daily newspaper managing editor, I try to be sensitive to a reader's interest.
You pose a great question, Steve, "We do not live in a perfect world but why is it so much less perfect than 30 years ago?"

I suspect one reason, Steve, is that each generation seems to invent its own idea of what is a perfect world. As a 63-year-old father of two children and grandfather of three, I have come to accept this as a rite of passage through time.

I confess that I love 60's rock 'n roll, Motown, Nat King Cole and Broadway musicals. If this does not date me, nothing will.

It has been my observation that each generation is loyal to its music because a song can instantly remind us of an emotional moment in our life. Maybe the start of a lifelong relationship, or the ending of another.

You only have to have your heart broken once in a lifetime and a certain song playing will remind you of the experience. It matters not that you go on to marry another girl and live happily ever after. The song and the moment remain.

My son has a totally different idea of what his perfect world is compared to mine. My perfect world would bore him to death, and put him to sleep at the same time.

The lesson to be learned is that "our" world, its culture, its values, and its mores are all constantly changing, and we are too—we are getting older with the passage of time.

I suspect a second reason, Steve, is that each generation believes its own special world should be the same for everyone.

Your friend may be happy in her career choice, an outstanding high school teacher, and making a real difference in her students' lives.

Ask any successful person if there was a teacher or coach who made them feel special and turned their life around for the better, and you will likely get a very positive response.

I am one of those successful people. I consider my high school cross-country and track coach—Varnard Gay—and my journalism teacher—Vernita Knight—to be tremendous, positive influences in my life to this very day.

Varnard produced many team and individual champions during his coaching career, and I was one of them. Vernita produced many outstanding journalists who would go on to productive careers, and I was one of them. I was blessed at a time when I needed a blessing. This is the gift a teacher or coach gives.

I have never been burdened with working at a job I hated. I have done what I wanted to do and sacrificed income in doing so. I did not care. I became self-employed in the early 1970's and never looked back.

It would be years before I would realize that there is no monetary reward for doing "good" in a job or profession. People who make a lot of money, like my son, make it their business to make money. In the business of making money there can be only two outcomes: results or excuses.

I never chased money and big money never really caught me. We live in a time where making a lot of money, wearing the fad clothes of the day, and driving the hot car or truck of the time, is believed to make you look more successful.

Why do something that you do not like for more money rather than doing something you do like for less? That would be chasing someone else's dream for the perfect world.

In assessing why I am not any other person than who I am, I try to remember two things:

1) What you think about me is none of my business. What is most important is what I think about myself.

2) Always remember that no matter what anyone is saying to you from the outside, the most important conversation is the one you are having with yourself on the inside.

My son spends little time reading, and I constantly read. As I have grown older, I have come to appreciate not only the writing of Ralph Waldo Emerson, but his mind as well.

Here are two things Emerson has written that impress me:

1) You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

2) This time, like all times, is a very good one, when we know what to do with it.

I believe that integrity is 1,000 times more important than making a lot of money. I will grant you that having a ton of money allows you to have better health and to do more fun things.

I have found that entertaining yourself is a blessing, and the best things in life are still free, such as a sunset over the lake, a walk on the beach and the warm glow of a fireplace.

I have never believed that having a lot of money causes me to make decisions with right thinking and right motives. I make decisions with right thinking and right motives because I am at peace with myself and value my integrity.

The world may pass me by on its way to a different way of life, but when I go to sleep for the final time, I am secure in my final resting place.

Always remember that when your regrets exceed your dreams, you are truly growing older.
When all reason and logic fail to convince, remember what William Shakespeare said:

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," or my more modern adaptation: "Nothing is either good or bad except that thinking makes it so."

Thanks again, Steve, for posing the question.

Make yourself a good day, and make your world a good world.

Ed

Note: Read my articles "Want a Six-Figure Income Without Getting a College Degree of Any Kind? Here Is How", "Who Earns the Most Based on Their Educational Level", and "Six Power Secrets of Getting Hired and Promoted". Find these reviews in my Jobs and Careers Archive.

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