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Is taking the easy way out cowardly or smart?
Results so far:
| Smart | 54% | 311 votes | Total: 580 votes | |
| Cowardly | 46% | 269 votes |
Smart
by Anthony Megna
Created on: June 21, 2011 Last Updated: October 20, 2011
Human nature being what it is, we are all on an eternal quest to make our lives easier. Do we really want to expend extra energy if there is an easier way to do things? Probably not, and some folks may call it "taking the easy way out", but I call it smart.
Some of the most brilliant inventions were devised because of trying to make life easier to live. Take the automobile for instance, it was invented because it is a lot easier to drive than to walk! It's also a lot easier to deal with a car rather than a horse, and it's a lot faster I might add. Again, this could be called taking the easy way out, but it's really just living smarter. Of course, there are a ton a negatives with the automobile, but mankind is working on making them safer and less polluting.
It's just logical and a lot smarter to avoid expending extra energy if one can help it. In fact, one can make the case that doing things in life harder is being stupid! Here's another example: You are in the midst of two people arguing over a problem, and the argument is getting to the point of being physical. If you have a solution to the problem, doesn't it make sense to voice that solution so that both sides are happy? This isn't taking the easy way out, or testing manhood or anything like that, it's being smart. Proper negotiation can avoid a lot of unnecessary confusion and energy. Expending energy in the wrong direction is foolish and wasteful, and if there is an easier way to do things, then do it.
Some of the most useful tools that we all use in our lives are because someone used their brains to invent an easier way to do things. Isn't it easier to transfer goods by putting them on wheels as opposed to dragging them through the sand with a rope? I'll take the easy way of doing things time after time rather than expend unnecessary energy. There are literally thousands of examples of people using their resources and their smarts to devise better ways of doing things. This is called advancement.
Is it cowardly to want to do things more efficiently? Call me a coward every day of the week, but if I can figure out a way to do things cheaper with less energy expended, then that is the way I'm going to do it! Not to do so is being stupid and wasteful. Unless there is a very good reason to want to do something, such as protecting our country from invaders or other enemies, then that is the way most of us are going to function. Sometimes there is no easy way, and those are the times that we need to buckle down and get the job done. Now that is being smart, and that is using our energy to do the right things. And some of those things mean putting our lives on the line, so let's save our energy for those times in life where we must confront our enemies.
Other than standing up for what we believe in, doing things in a smarter way usually means expending less energy. Some folks might want to call that "taking the easy way out", but I'm going to call it being wise.
Learn more about this author, Anthony Megna.
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Cowardly
by Georgia Stewart
Created on: September 12, 2009
If Martin Luther King had chosen to take the easy way out, or a path that was not as difficult as the one he took all that he achieved would not have been accomplished. Life is similar to a climb up a mountain that involves struggle and effort and therefore getting to the top is often difficult. If it was not then we would not learn how to be versatile, strong and courageous.
Mother Theresa chose, probably, the hardest life style that was available to her and she has enhanced so many people's lives, and saved lives. She could have taken a more conventional approach to her future that would have been easier for her but she had a passion for life and her fellow human beings.
I assume that passion is an attribute that distinguishes those who choose to reach higher even though there is usually a high personal cost, to those who take the easy way out. To do things that are difficult when we are not forced to shows that a person values their goals so much that they are willing to give their all in order to achieve them.
Nevertheless setting goals that are too high and would result in the health being adversely affected or perhaps the neglect of more important things, such as family and home life could be unwise so on occasion I suggest that the easier route might be for the best. In general though doing things that require effort usually results in worthwhile achievements.
People who win Olympic medals are those that pour their all into their pursuits. The competitive nature of their sports leaves no room for an easy way and they will do everything it takes to be number one. Disabled sports people are especially admirable to my mind, because they have even more obstacles to overcome in pursuing their chosen goals.
Considering the best authors that have lived I am often impressed by the amount of work that they put into writing their books. Classic literature must take a vast amount of dedication and I am certain that the authors could have chosen easier ways to live their lives. The best musicians, artists, and those of similar professions must be single minded and determined in order to offer their creations to the world.
Think of people in the caring professions, such as fire fighters, those in medicine, carers and holistic healers. People who take on careers in which they put the needs of others first most certainly do not choose the easy way out! On the contrary they work extremely hard and their jobs require compassion, focus and sometimes even the risking of their own lives in the case of fire fighters, air sea rescuers or those in bomb disposal for instance.
It could be said that the type of people who will choose to do something that requires personal risk and a large amount of hard work are not smart and an easier way would be more logical, yet they have something that is of more value than being smart. They have love, compassion, courage and the selfless ability to make the world a better place.
Learn more about this author, Georgia Stewart.
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