Good, short article by Utne Reader. I agree we need to rethink our present paradigm. I don’t really think WORK should be the ONLY thing that matters in our lives. Or even to be the most important thing. That seems to be the accepted practice here in the USA.
I’ve traveled around to a lot of different places in the world. In lots of places, I don’t see that dedication to WORK above all else. In fact, that is one of the many reasons I’ve been wanting to leave the US. I think it would be nice to live someplace where people live to enjoy LIFE, not to spend all their lives dedicated to miserable JOBS!
I saw it all over Europe and South America, people will take time to eat, drink, spend time with their friends and family, enjoy life!
We don’t do much of that here in America. We shovel down our food. We hardly go out for a drink with friends (tho that probably has a lot to do with our ridiculously overzealous DWI laws). We rush, rush, rush around to schedule in all the things our kids are involved in (all of which will look good on a resume and so help them get ahead in WORK later on).
I don’t know what the solution is. I would say that one thing that would be very helpful is their idea of the ‘accountablity model’. Working from home instead of wasting hours every day driving would be bound to help in lots of ways.
I think we really should try to come up with some way to tone down our obsession with getting ahead, status symbols, etc. Things like having to have the luxury car or SUV. Buying McMansions when you only have 1-2 kids. Sure, we all want and deserve to have some nice things to spend our time and money on, but money IS time!
Do we REALLY want/need to spend SO much of our lives at WORK, trying to earn enough to pay the bills when those bills are for SO much more than we really need? We’re all caught in the rat race here (myself included). Maybe we should study some of the other cultures around the world more and see how they manage their lives.
I think there ARE more important things in life than work. I’m one of the lucky ones, I DO still enjoy what I do for my work (of course, it COULD be so much better, but that’s another issue). I’m very lucky to work offshore and have a work schedule where I do get more time off to enjoy then most people do. I like what I do and I like the people I work with.
Of course, I also like the paycheck! That’s the bottom line. I work to get money so I can do all the OTHER things I want to do with my life. I just think I should be able to find a better balance and tip the scales away from work and towards the REST of life. 🙂
As you know from us working together I have always found that the best way to be productive at work is to become as well rounded as possible. Management will not agree with me on this, and as I reflect, they never have. Now that I have retired and started my own little business I am having the time of my life. I should have quit corporate 30 years ago, I’d be a lot healthier. I have managed to turn our little operation into a stress free work place, it took a leap of faith to do this, but my blood pressure is a thing of beauty. And when I explain to people who are afraid of touching and breaking my wares that I can fix whatever happens to break they look at me in wonder. My Philosophy? If you pick up a rock, pendant, or pretty much anything else and it drops, hits the floor and breaks, then I have two or three items to sell instead of one. It takes me all of about 10 minutes to reshape and polish a broken pendant and about 15 minutes for Myra to turn both pieces into smaller pendants. No stress, and my customers are not obligated to purchase what they may have broken in error. Since I adopted that philosphy about two years ago my sales have increased by 1/3. Not bad for a short, fat, bald headed white boy. Mike