Hard Work Pays Off?

 I am thinking about the importance of effort, and whether or not it guarantees success if a person works hard. This might seem a no-brainer, since we are socialized into believing that our hard work pays off. But it's not at all necessarily true, and there is something a little bit dangerous about making assumptions that efforts lead to "good results" all the time. But as Buddhist teachings suggest, efforts don't just go to waste; eventually the efforts lead to some kind of result in a future time, whether tangible or not. Sometimes the "intangible" results are the most precious.
   Examples of intangible results of effort include the ability to discover oneself, cultivate patience and stick to something closely and carefully. These skills and habits are a lifetime of joy, and they prevent a person from going into all kinds of unwholesome states of mind and situations. Without effort of some kind, whether it be work or art, volunteer or family, would these kinds of discoveries be possible? Probably not, since even meditating without any of these things requires some kind of effort. I am not referring to a kind of forceful or strenuous effort but more like a consistent flow of energy, the way a current of electricity is consistently applied to create a current.
   I think that effort does have a good effect, but it always needs to be supplemented by some faith that one is doing something meaningful. Faith comes not from wanting something in the near future, but from cherishing the meaning of what one is doing now. This is the difference between a faith that is consistent with the present and a blind faith that strives for a future that never is.