Our ancestors have a saying: “Diligence makes up for intelligence”. It can be said that this is an extremely clever teaching not only in terms of message but also semantics. That’s right, diligence can only “make up” for intelligence but cannot replace it. Intelligence and diligence are elements that contribute to the perfection of life. It would be terrible if diligence were absent, but it would be a disaster if creativity were extinct.
The story goes that:
There was a poor man who always complained about his miserable fate. He often wondered why he had to work so hard to have food to eat and clothes to wear. Not only that, sometimes when things were difficult, he didn't even have enough food to eat, and had to wear torn clothes. Meanwhile, there were people who lived comfortably and had no worries. This man prayed to God to help him resolve his grievances. Before God, the poor man cried and told about his daily hardships, working so hard that he thought he would die but still only had enough to eat each meal and had no savings.
After a while of complaining, the poor man lamented: "I see that life is so unfair. Why are there rich people who can enjoy life without having to work hard, while poor people like us work hard all year round and still cannot be like them?"
God smiled and asked: "So what do you think is fair?"
The poor man quickly replied: “Yes, I want you to let the poor and the rich have the same starting point to see how they live. If after a while the rich man is still rich, then I will have nothing to complain about.” God nodded and said: “Okay!” Then, God made a rich man become poor and have the same starting point as the poor man. Each person went to a mountain to find a way to make a living. The mountain had a coal mine, so every day the two people mined coal and brought it to the market to sell for money. After a year, they would see the results.
The two men dug coal together. The poor man worked very hard and soon dug up a cartful of coal, which he took to the market to sell for money. He used the money to buy delicious food for his wife and children to enjoy. Everything improved visibly. The poor man felt that although the work was a little hard, the income was very stable. Life became more beautiful and lovely.
The rich man could not work as hard. He felt tired and sweaty after digging coal for a while. By late afternoon, he had dug half a cart of coal and sold it at the market. However, he only had enough money to buy some bread.
The next day, the poor man dug coal again, and the rich man went to the market. A little while later, he returned with two very strong men who were unemployed and went to work for money. The other two went to the coal mine, and without telling each other, they dug hard, the rich man just stood there and directed them to work. In just one morning, the rich man had two carts full of coal. He brought them to the market to sell for money and hired more workers. The amount of coal the rich man mined increased day by day, and after paying the workers, he was still quite well off.
A year passed quickly and the poor man was still the same, buying delicious food and sweet wine every day but not saving anything. On the contrary, the other man had become rich, owning a strong team of workers to mine a lot of coal every day to sell at the market, earning a lot of money. At this point, the poor man had nothing more to complain about.
Success is not only about how hard you put into a job, but how hard you put in to bring the highest efficiency. Billionaire Bill Gates once said: “Being born poor is not your fault; but if you die poor, it is your fault.”
So, diligence is very important in this world, but creativity is what changes the world. Without creativity, we would not have steam engines, internal combustion engines, and jet engines. Without creativity, the world would not have large construction sites, large factories, and giant manufacturing corporations. Without creativity, we would not know anything about information technology, we would not have the internet, and of course, we would not have social networks to chat every day. Creativity is the most special energy that the Supreme Being has bestowed and entrusted to mankind with the mission of changing the world.
Creativity is one of the special states of activity of the brain to find something new and superior. Scientists believe that: Creativity is a product of the right hemisphere of the brain, it is the opposite of the logical thinking of the left hemisphere of the brain. The opposite of creativity is stereotypical, mechanical, conservative copying. Creativity can be present anytime, anywhere. In science, it is research achievements leading to application. In production labor, it can be technical improvements, experience initiatives. In learning, it can be a good way to solve a problem. Even in football, creativity can sometimes appear in... a pass. Creativity can be anywhere and everyone has the opportunity to be creative if they are diligent and passionate about exploring.
Creativity is a priceless resource in the form of potential and creativity needs a healthy environment to activate it. Creativity needs to be nurtured from childhood and it is something that should be cultivated and cared for in schools. It is terrible when the teacher gives the question: Please present your thoughts... but when grading the paper, tries to grade according to... the teacher's thoughts. In this case, creativity is rejected and mistreated. Remember not long ago, netizens passed around an essay describing their grandmother that received a bad score because it was "off topic"! According to the teacher, grandmothers must wear brown clothes, have a hunched back, chew betel nuts and sit by the window knitting. Meanwhile, "my modern grandmother" has a beautiful face and fair skin, rides a motorbike like the wind to... go to the gym! When studying history, you have to memorize all the events, when studying geography, you have to know how to draw a map...
Talking about stereotypes, writer Bui Ngoc Phuc once expressed: “Abusing model essays will lead to the elimination of creativity, lack of test-taking skills, passive dependence when studying and writing, laziness in thinking…”. Albert Einstein once said: “The supreme art of a teacher is to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge”.
Create, create and create, ending creation means ending the world. Creation is the master key to life. Creation is the duty of every living being in this world. If possible, create from the smallest things.
Without creativity, the world would only be filled with people digging coal to sell at the market. Ah, without creativity, there would be no coal trucks, no markets to sell at. That’s right, without creativity, humans would still be in the… gathering period!
