This is my school motto – Nil Sine Labore or Nothing Without Work.  At the time it really meant very little to me.  School mottos aren’t really supposed to mean anything to you are they?  They are there just so that the crest thing doesn’t look too stupid, hanging there on its own.  However, as I get older, I have come to realise that it completely sums up my life. There really is nothing without work.  So many people are looking for a quick fix – a diet that allows you to eat everything without putting on weight, a wrinkle cream that actually works, an ability to get fit in 5 minutes a day.  Everywhere we look people are telling us that if we do this or this or that we will get what we want without having to do any of the work.  I know I am going to be very unpopular for saying this but that IS JUST NOT TRUE.  You will get nothing you really want in this life without good, old fashioned, hard work.  I know you will protest – I have a friend who always gets the good job, grades, has the best figure, whatever and she doesn’t have to work at anything but really, I think those people either accept the necessary work to get where they want to go or they just don’t talk about it.  Everyone I know who I admire has had to work hard to get where they are – and it was, and is still, a struggle.  It took them a lot of time and energy to get where they are and that is what is so inspiring about them – what makes them heroes.  It is also good to know that nobody is just plain lucky – no one doesn’t have to work to follow their dreams.  Once you understand that and accept that work is what you need to put in to get you where you want to go – the world is your oyster.  All that is stopping you is work.  Nothing without work! No truer a phrase spoken – though not necessarily in Latin!