Joie de vivre

I couldn’t just blog once about the enjoyment of life and stop! Where’s the joie de vivre in that?! So I had to write a follow up to the previous blog post…about what I said about enjoying work. Now let’s face it – to most people work is not enjoyable if it’s working for “da man.” Two important elements missing from this equation if you’re having a ball of a time everyday at the salt mine: either you absolutely LOVE what you do for a living or you work for yourself. The latter is twice as much the work but to know that it is yours, you tend to give it your all because 1) you’re comfortable within your own surroundings and can work as late or early into the wee hours if you so desire and 2) you want repeat business through word of mouth and the pay is good…hey you’re your own boss! You can afford to give yourself a raise this month and then next month rough it and skip a salary altogether…. it’s flexible that way. A lot of people strive for that sort of freedom where and when they can break free from the mental and financial bondage of the "rat-race." Someone was saying just today that you spend 8 hours sleeping, 8 working for “da man”, 4 in commute (usually in traffic especially with all the rains and floods we’re been getting these days, on a day like today where people waited till nightfall just to avoid gridlock traffic outside their door) and the other 4 involved in miscellaneous activities part of which consists getting yourself ready to face the next day which usually begins with more traffic.

So if you can’t go off on your own just yet, we must find something we’re good at and love to do and find a way to get paid for it. Sometimes the money is not important once you get fulfillment from your job or make a difference somehow in the lives of others or made someone else happy...better yet if your work has brought about the improvement in the quality of daily life. To hear that you made another’s day or maybe saved a life or allowed someone to live their dream is fulfillment in itself and priceless beyond words. And each of our jobs are important and at times we don’t realize it and don’t give it our all. But don’t get me wrong…we all need $$$ to survive so you don’t want to give away your talents, skills, time and resources for free unless you have a back up plan…maybe a wealthy great uncle or a money tree in your back yard. Cos everybody needs the paper to survive and live a decent life. It doesn’t make us happy but without it we would be homeless, hungry and deprived of things needed to make life comfortable and livable for our family and ourselves. ©

So the moral of the story is: Find something you love to do and you never have to work a day in your life. You would be opulent in all the ways that are important to mankind.