Work Is Not A Curse
This article came about when my wife and I were traveling back to Miami from Orlando. We shared a conversation regarding life, traveling and work. More importantly, we expounded on the topic of how some people perceive work as a curse.
To these people that we’ve known growing up, they believe that work is for the impoverished and knowing somebody who just stays at home while having a comfortable life is being held at a high regard. Imagine the time that passes by when you’re not doing anything other than watching TV or gossiping about your friends and neighbors—what sense of purpose do you have? IF you are a mother who needs to take care of your young children at home while your husband is working, or a child of a handicapped parent, or somebody who is dealing with something that hinders you from working / be with an individual at all times because of health-related issues, then that is a different case—by all means, do what you must and serve the people who depend on you. What I’m talking about here are the thousands or millions of people, who are more than CAPABLE and ABLE to get a job right now (that do not have a lot of responsibilities laid on their shoulders) but decide to avoid working because they are either lazy, uninspired, or deem work as a curse.
Work is a gift, and let me explain to you why.
Work Gives You Purpose In Life
This is the number one benefit that work bestows upon us. An individual who doesn’t not seek work or purpose is no better than an animal. A cow, for example, contributes more to society than a lost individual. In retrospect, animals serve the earth and humans. Without human interference, they serve nature by continuing the cycle of life. It (Earth) needs to survive by relying on the routines of plants, insects any other living things. If an animal dies (a cow, for example) and its carcass is left alone, then it will become a temporary food / nutrient supply for other species, benefiting the environment that it used to be part of. Decomposition takes place and the carcass further lends itself as nutrients to the earth. On the other hand, if humans intervene and rear cattle, then cows contribute to restaurants, dairy factories, the fashion industry and other specialized crafts.
As humans, we are at the top of the food chain, and we exist because we continue to progress by finding new avenues of ex that are untapped. Having a purpose in life by working creates a rippling effect through the things that you do for your community. Having a job will let you discover what you are good at, and when you identify your talents or your gifts, then you find ways to become better at it. When you do good and contribute to society, then you find your “why”,Why am I alive, what is my life mission? There is not a single successful person in this world that does not have a purpose in life. They all have found a calling that they continue to work on.
Do not waste time that has been given to you by spending it in foolish means, being idle is one of them. Being idle basically means that you are wasting your talent(s) by not using them at all. Utilizing one’s time in meaningful endeavors or actions that help other people is what creates a satisfying and fulfilling life. Staying in front of the TV for prolonged periods of time only satisfies the eyes, not the soul.
Work allows you to become an effective individual
This is related to the statement above. Having purpose in life makes you an effective individual, what more is IF YOU manifest on being good at what you are doing. You must aim to be good at your craft. Imagine if Bill Gates dropped out of school and instead of working on what he loves doing, he just decided to work at a normal corporate office, doing normal office work, fooled around with his friends and wasted his 20’s gallivanting—where will humanity be right now?
Doing good at what you do catapults you to be an effective individual who can contribute to the public positively in multiple means—regardless of scale. A guy like Bill didn’t go to a conventional workplace to do what he wanted to do, he locked himself up until he finally came up with something. But as you can see, his work has gifted every nation in a positive way, and that’s how you become effective. Do not do something just for the sake of getting by and surviving. This is the very reason why some people are stuck with where they are for 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, because they didn’t have the mindset of “how can I make myself progress and become more effective at my chosen career path?”
People need goals, reasons or inspirations to start moving and become better. Without these, we stay still or we get stuck. What if you could have been a very good nurse or doctor that could have saved millions of lives but instead, you chose not to further your studies, not to attend medical conventions and partied on the weekends? Think again. We will never know our true potential as effective individuals not unless we start moving towards a mindset of being good at our specialization. You must find it in you to excel, nobody can help you but yourself.
A longer and healthier life, by working
According to Wikipedia, It is not after the Industrial Revolution where a man started to take notice of the issues of having an aging factory assembly team. Production was slowing down, the workers were calling out much too often and were refusing to resign in order to pave way for younger and stronger candidates to apply. So, Francis Townsend came up with the Idea that if they are able to create a program that will entice the aging employees to finally throw in the towel and get paid doing so, then it will solve the issue and bring production back to normal again. The program states that at the age of 60, workers will be entitled to compensation as a form of “reward” after their undeniable employment throughout the years.
And it worked, hence, retirement came about.
Growing up, I always hear the adults talk about the day when they will finally break free from working and enjoy the rest of their lives the way they imagined it to be. Where I come from, retirement is something that people look forward to, it has been ingrained in our very DNA to condition ourselves for retirement. While there’s nothing wrong with that, I deem it to be unfavorable, even detrimental.
I have seen and heard countless of retirees enjoy the first couple weeks or months in amazement. They live ecstatically, being free from the chains of labor that “held them up” for two or three decades of their lives. But like everything, the blissful feeling fades away, you get bored doing the same thing over and over again. More so, your body slows down and have to adjust to the new normal that it is dealing with—being idle, digesting copious amounts of food and repetition. Two of my father’s friends died shortly after retirement, and I’m sure that there are plenty more stories out there with the same context. When the body is not mobile, it will attract sickness and diseases, especially neural complications. Better to keep the mind sharp by staying active, once you stop using your mind and your body routinely, then you also shorten your life, little by little. Exercising alone is not enough, not unless if you are an Olympian, professional athlete or a hardcore gym rat, then you might be able to defy the laws of a deteriorating body.
Work gives structure to your life, like how a normal human being should have
In addition, work creates structure to your life. You set your daily work routines and you plan for special moments ahead of time. Consider work as your “rent” or mortgage—it’s going to be there no matter what. Now, the better you structure your time at work and the more you make yourself more valuable, then you will earn more and create more flexibility. We want the flexibility of being able to go to work when we want to or doing something else. If you observe the most successful people, they all have the flexibility that they want but they rather choose not to spend too much time on unimportant things that will not give them any benefit or value. Time is precious to successful individuals. They hire other people to do specific tasks for them in order to save them their precious time.
Having the feeling of “I deserve This”
This is the highlight of our car conversation.
Have you ever felt that feeling when you are about to go on a vacation after planning it for months or years in advance or when you are about to purchase something that you’ve been saving up for, that it is finally becoming a reality? That special feeling of excitement and relief while telling yourself, “Finally, after months or years of hard work, I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor,”—I find that this feeling only happens when you know that you are deserving of it—that you are entitled to feel it. I have tried the other scenario wherein I didn’t work for a year and took a vacation, it was not as rewarding and there was no fulfillment during the experience. There was nothing to look forward to because each day felt the same—stagnant, dry and uneventful.
What work does to us is it conditions our minds to be disciplined to look forward to that precious day when we will finally purchase the thing that we’ve been saving for or when we are about to embark on a vacation. Sure, there will be issues that will arise along the way, it’s part of the marathon, but what is better than knowing that you have reached the finish line and can now take a breath of relief? When people persevere, they become mentally and physically stronger. It is where you’ll have thoughts that go like “ I can’t believe that I made it through the busy season,” or, “I can’t believe that it’s that time of the year again, finally, here I am to reward myself!”
When we took our most recent European vacation, we both felt this feeling. The anticipation grew bigger and bigger the closer we got to our vacation time. And when we found ourselves in the plane already buckled up, we savored every moment that we had because we knew that it will not last long enough for us to get tired of it. To me, that is a blessing.