This has become a world of convenience — convenience stores, fast food and supermarkets.

Yes, they have their place in the world, and it is all good and merry if done in moderation, but people today need to be pushed to move when it comes to motivation.

This lack of motivation also leaves the world stale and bland. It is a world without individual thought, soul or feel. Motivation not only helps society change and become something new, but it keeps people from complaining.

If a person makes a decision on his or her own, with his or her own reasoned thoughts, the person can only learn from the experience. Yes, it is cliche, but the world benefits from motivated individualism.

As good T.J. Gerlach once stated, laziness is a problem. But, there is another problem concerning how much people are willing to do.

For example, common sense states there is more fat in the meat than the bread of a hamburger, and yet, the nation has succumb to a diet where the bread and carbs are more evil than Satan and deep-fried meat is somehow stable in opposition to this fact. This is the scary truth in fads.

One would think simply eating less and exercising would be better, but dead dietitians don’t lie (or do they)?

If diets can’t prove the point, then cheating might.

Simply stated, if people did not cheat, there would not be a recurring problem here at Missouri Southern.

If people actually motivated themselves to learn, they might have a chance.

Learning is a capability of all humans. Even six-year-olds can learn something they have not seen before.

I guess those who take the effort to cheat in their studies don’t see themselves as part of this big race.

So, another example is needed.

The election was a big deal to a lot of people.

Some of the largest groups out there never showed up to the polls. They sit and cry afterward, wishing their chocolate (or meat-filled hamburger) would bring them comfort. If they had the fortitude to suck it up and move to the polls, they might be happier and healthier.

Motivation comes from within. Philosophers have debated its existence for thousands of years. They have also debated the means of motivation.

Justice, the economy, social issues and personal safety top the lists of high-tooting idealisms these intellects came up with to explain personal motivation.

The truth stands though, on small, personal issues, people need only decide for themselves what to do.

Personal choices stand in the face of the person making this or that choice. It’s not society’s job to make their choice.

The government does not tell a person what hat to wear in the morning. Nor does the President make a person get out of bed and sit on his or her butt wishing for a job.

If a person wants a job, he or she can stop blaming the economy, Bush or whatever and just go out each day and make the most of it.

If it gets out people cannot move themselves, they become sheep – A slave to the dog outside the herd. It’s easy to fall into a group, keeping ourselves happy without making a decision. It’s hard to be an individual. But, that’s the toughest choice we have to make.