E for Effort

So I had a rather brief conversation with my wife today regarding effort, but it got me thinking, so I thought I'd share.

She was doing something the hard way (or rather in a way that I deemed to be more difficult than another). As I sat there and watched her, I started to be a little critical. My bad. Anyway, I started explaining how MY way was better because it accomplished the same end result with less effort, something I would define as being more EFFICIENT. I've often said my mindset is good for a programmer because I look for easy ways to solve problems. Anyway, all she said at this point is something along the lines of "what's wrong with a little bit of effort?"

Touché.

So that's what got me thinking a bit. Is it WRONG, as I often portray, to expend a little extra effort on something? No. In fact, there are certain benefits that go along with that extra effort. The end result means more to us because we actually sacrificed something to get it. If we sail through without really putting forth any effort, and have things handed to us our whole lives, we probably won't appreciate it as much, and we certainly won't learn the value of hard work.

My wife is such an example of hard work and effort. When she wants to do something, she gives it all she can. I would do just enough to get by or make it passable, but she puts in the extra effort to make sure that whatever she's doing is the best it can be.