Jelly Beans and Excuses

Cemetery Sketch 1

I could not stay awake in my American art history class a couple years ago. It was 8:30 a.m., the lights were dim, and I had just worked a 3 ½ hour shift at my custodial job. And I had other excuses as to why it was impossible. But one day my professor, who apparently was annoyed that I was only awake for 20% of his class, put a soap-flavoured jelly bean on the table up front and issued the threat that the first person to fall asleep would have to eat it. I stayed awake. And I realized that it was not too hard. I simply needed the right motivation.

There is always an easy way out. And it doesn’t seem like it’s such a big deal the first time you say “it’s too hard” but pretty soon that phrase is stamped with a large red X over every worthy opportunity in your path. Sometimes you don’t even have to acknowledge that you’re passing things by. You just veer slightly to the left or right to avoid an obstacle, then another one. The path of least resistance makes men and rivers crooked, and whether you credit evil or entropy, the easy way does not lead anywhere worth going.

I’m not usually lazy, and this dialogue did not arise out of regrets. But I am reevaluating my excuses. Some of them are valid—not all of us can do everything. But even if it takes oddly-flavored jelly beans, I want to make sure I’m doing the most I can.