This morning I had driven out to a somewhat far removed part of town to teach a friend English. He cancelled at the last minute.

For a second I was almost tempted to see it as a "wasted" trip. This is almost always wrong, though, and if you want to be paid, you will.

Wherever you are, payment, whether in money, valuable observations, experience, revelations, or even totally banal and useless-seeming (at the time) information for the future, will be there.

(DISCLAIMER: Sometimes it pays you in the realization that what you are doing is a waste and you should never do it again! :) Gotta keep it real!)

While drinking my iced coffee and thinking about some various plans I have been concocting and how to tackle them, as well as other, somewhat difficult-seeming situations in my life right now, I looked up and saw the sign on the used electronics store across the street. I've seen the sign a million times, but today I saw something new, in between the lines.

If you stumble and fall, dust yourself off and try again.

You'll never regret doing your personal best.

You have to work up a sweat to get any benefit.

You can make a lot of progress one step at a time.

If you're afraid of failure you'll never accomplish anything.

Stay away from negative thoughts. It's never too late to renew your efforts.

~KafkA

---

Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)