By Vernalee
This proverb, “Once you carry your own water, you’ll learn the value of every drop” means that when you carry the load, you will appreciate the work that goes into getting or producing something.
Think about it. When you turn on your faucet and the water automatically flows, you don’t give it a second thought. It’s as easy as one, two, three. However, if you had to carry every drop of water that you used - to drink, to cook, to wash or bathe - in a bucket from a distant pump, you would soon begin to take caution not to waste any of it and literally appreciate every drop. When the weight is on your back and you carry the load, it is then that you recognize what it takes to do the tasks at hand. You will also see things differently - up close and personal. In addition, when you have to rely on yourself (i.e. carrying the water) and no one else, you do what it takes to get from point A to Z; to make ends meet. Once again, self preservation kicked in and we re-engaged our timeless motto, “If it is to be, it’s left up to me!”
Water just like the tasks of life can be a heavy load. I know it all too well.
Back in the day, I was the “water girl” who wore a big straw hat and gloves (to prevent callouses) as I carried a heavy tin bucket of water in the scorching Mississippi sun to soothe the thirst of the field workers chopping cotton. “Oh my aching back!”
Nevertheless, my job and theirs got done.
...It was all in a day‘s work! ...
Today, I appreciate my parents and the hard working people that I grew up around. Their tireless work ethic was incredible! They taught me values.
One of which is that hard work pays off!