Do we Work to Live; or Live to Work
Today while I was travelling by Taxi, the Taxi driver suddenly said, I want your advice. I kind of know him since he regularly drives me to work, so I said sure go ahead....
In Oman it is very common for the local people to do corporate jobs and drive taxi in their free time. He said he is confused, he is working in a job but he is not very happy. I checked with him, what was the reason behind his unhappiness; so his reason was that his family stays far away, his son has medical needs and he is not able to be with him so his whole attention is on his family and he cannot concentrate on work, and moreover he has 12hrs of work which is again odd hours and his own health is getting affected. I checked with him about his financial condition and that if he would leave the job how is he going to survive. He had his alternatives in place which were quite decent, then I was confused that if everything is so clear what is the reason stopping him to quit. His answer was that everyone is advising him that he should not quit the job as that is the only stable thing and hence he is confused if he should quit or not....
I could very well relate to him since I have gone through almost a similar situation. I had wanted to quit my job way back but I always felt that without a job I will not have stability in my life and it is the only robust thing for my sustenance.
But I was so wrong, since the time I quit my job I feel more relaxed, a have a better approach to alternatives.
There are 2 things here
- We do a certain work because it pays good money to us but we are not happy with what we are doing
- We do a particular work even if we do not enjoy it because we have very high ambitions of reaching up the corporate ladder but in the bargain we overlook all the other aspects of life.
Both the situations are not good; life is about many more things then status, position and money.
Money is very important there is no doubt of it but a lot of us are stuck with this mindset that only a proper job can bring us money and stability. I do not say that quit your job and sit back home enjoying life; it doesn't happen that way. You have your bills, rents, loans and all the possible expenses. So before you quit a little planning on the other alternatives will be required.
But what worth is it to do something that does not make you feel good and happy and everyday going to work becomes one cumbersome exercise. The most important thing is to be happy in whatever work you do.
The mood spent at your work place follows back home and gets passed on to the family, hence it is very important to be happy in your mind. Good and Happy Thoughts will follow good actions.
The Balance in our professional life and Family life is very important. In my previous job I have seen people making work their only agenda in life, everyone wants to grow up the corporate ladder fast be it at the expense of their family time or at the expense of their own happiness. They are not happy with what they are doing but they are still doing it because the job is heavy paid and money is all that matters to them. I ask many of them what will you do in life if you have to quit working and they would not have any answer since they have never thought life beyond their workplace. Its a very sad situation but it does exist.
I wish we can all look at life in a more broader aspect, giving a 360 degree view rather then limiting our focus in one direction.
What is life all about for you???? Leave your answers in the comments; I might just get the mood to reward the best comment 😍
With Love and Angels Blessings 💖💖👼🏻👼🏻🧚♀
My other blogs of Interest
Release addictions before it's too late
A day spent in the Mountains of Oman
Importance of Money Basics for Children
Being the change I want to see in the world which rules out being employed and pay taxes as that is a big part of our current problem imo. The extremely centralized system we are so used to is keeping us enslaved but finally we have an alternative that can and will most likely change everything...
Welcome to the revolution, no guns necessary just switching focus from what keeps us enslaved to parallel solutions that grants us freedom eg. blockchain technology, gift economy, knowledge and understanding about our nature and health etc.
Great post as always nainaz... I live to live and what I do doesn't feel like work but as an amazing quest to unite humandkind and bring in a new golden age! :D
Thanx Johan. So true, we are so much conditioned and captivated. When I started working my dad told me, now you have a good job so just stick to it and dont try experimenting new things. I followed that for almost 10 years not realizing what harm I was doing to my ownself. But thankfully I could get out of this conditioning and look at life beyond these set parameters.
There is so much more to life
it is indeed! :D
Great photo, we lovers photography :))
Follow @ziapase
a great question, Nainaz!
I made the post of the similar topic some time ago.
It was about Downshifting - have you heard about it?
Yes my dear, I see a lot of people have started doing that realizing how important it is to live a healthy life even if there are less returns. In my case I was almost pushed to get out of the rut, not by someone but by my own higherself I guess.
yeah, sometimes this time comes and we've enlightment.
I had the same) maternity helped me to understand much and change my life greatly.
Money is important, there is no arguing with that but our health is more important. I have seen many people live stressful lives and refuse to change anything because they are scared they will not have enough money. I also figured out that when you do what you love you are not actually working. Money comes and you are a happy person. This can seem like a hard achievable thing but as you said, when we feel more relaxed, we have a better approach to alternatives.
I would always rather choose to have less money and be happy than having a lot and be under stress. Thank you for another great post. It was a pleasure to read. 💚
Same here. I would rather have less then live stressful for that additional money. I have also noticed and experienced that when you start enjoying your work the universe takes care of your needs in some or the other way and you never feel lack of anything.
To me, life is about freedom.
I learned my lesson early in life when I saw some of my elderly colleagues complaining about "bad weather".
That was a regulation in German construction companies, that when in winter it got too cold to work outside, you were sent home and you got about 63% of your net wages for staying at home in your warm apartment.
While I was very happy about money for nothing, some elderly colleagues were not happy because the 63% was not enough for them, they needed the 100 % of their net wages to support their families.
That was the moment when I realised that if you don´t save some of your money to buy you freedom, you will forever be a slave.
Now some 30 years later I have enough money that for the last almost four years I could do every day whatever I wanted, since I don´t work for anyone, nor do I have people working for me, nor do I have customers pestering me, finally I´m free.
Welcome to the ecotrain by the way!
Looking forward to read more about Oman.
I almost went there in the nineties to work there as a scuba diving instructor.
You are living an awesome life I should say @likedeeler. Freedom is the ultimate goal, when we are able to shed off all these baggage life becomes much more simpler. For 20 years I was tied up in a corporate job running after promotions, salary hike, power and I felt like I was a slave, never could think beyond the 4 walls of the corporate world but gradually my interest shifted to healing work and the urge started getting so strong that I finally decided to quit completely. I feel so much free and light, I am not tied up to these fixed schedules and working like a robot.
Thank you very much for the warm welcome, I hope I can live up to the expectations of the group.
Oman is a beautiful place, In 90s there was almost nothing but now it's a different scene, if you visit you will be amazed by the development of this place. That's what I hear from the old timers :-)
Quick question: If you had all the money you wanted, would you stop working?
if the reply is Yes, then you must change the work, because it's not the activity that brings joy and satisfaction?:)
There you go! :) What about eating and sleeping all day with loads of money stacked up in a treasure chest beneath the bed? ;)
what about taking all money and gold we have earned to our tombs?:)
Sure! I intend to do that. ;)
My answer is No, even if I had all the money I will not stop working. I will not work for money, but I will do some work that I enjoy and bring some value in it. I have already started doing that the only difference is I yet do not have stacks of money...hahaha....but I am enjoying what I am doing.
Gautham, please please do not do that rather leave all that for the needy ones out there...hehehe
Appreciate your ideas and noble thinking!
I'm a greedy bastard indeed - have no intentions of leaving anything for the needy ones.
By the way, I am needy, why not give me some of your $$$?
;)
I gave up working a long time ago and started doing things I love. Doesn't pay as well, but I'm infinitely more happy.
That's awesome. I hope that more and more people understand this. Trust me in India this is not yet established, there is money competition all around. People like to be miserable and spend their life always grumbling about something or the other.
My mom and dad both hated their jobs and grumbled all the time. I vowed to never be that parent.😎
I enjoyed working when I did. Now I have the most important job in the world. To be the mommy of my son.
That's so nice, every phase of life has something unique to offer, if we keep flowing with it gently we will enjoy.
Life for me is about coffee, fortunately I do enjoy most of my work - which is good because it takes up most of my time! But certainly a job becomes less of chore if you enjoy what you are doing.
#thealliance
That's nice that you have the opportunity to enjoy your work. For sure when anything becomes like a daily activity to do it becomes a burden.
It's really great to post an awesome post and this post is really for many educators.All think that every life is ending inside a collection, we have to find happiness in it, if the ambition can not make us happy, it is more that you push us to the trouble, so if they work, then we will find happiness in them.
Thank you very much @jareen61 for reflecting on my thoughts and sharing your views.
You are so kind to help the taxi driver friend see alternatives and see a new perspective that his normal support group doesn't offer. Stability and money are good but they pull us into choices we wouldn't otherwise make. You are wise to see that there are other options and the world doesn't have to be black and white!
Thank you @sagescrub for your inputs. Appreciate:-)