Over and Under Worked

It is possible to be over worked and under worked. There is a happy middle one must find in order to feel healthy. I speak from personal experience when I say that people are more energetic and generally happier when they are not living to work and working to live. LIVING should be comprised of work, but they should not be dependent on one another. You can live whether you have a bunch of money or not. You can live whether you're in the worst slums or you're the richest in all of Hollywood. Living has many different qualities to it, of course, making it a positive or negative experience. Even these qualities are interpreted differently by separate parties.

In my workplace I experience people being depressed and depleted in energy. There is constant complaint, aggravation, anxiety, sadness, dis-ease. You could even go as far as to say that overworking yourself is a disease. It has permeated through our culture and has infected most of us like a virus. We think so highly of money, as if it were above us, as if it were something attainable and achievable through hours and hours of slavery with a company who is also just as blind as you are.

I've also seen people depressed and inert through laziness or boredom. The same as above is true for the opposite extreme to working too much -- working too little is just as scary. Kids and adults alike end up trying to fill a void with unnecessary activities, which could affect the mind in a very dark and shaky way. They "get up to no good", they get violent, they become complacent and sometimes could lead to suicidal tendencies. This is a large problem in kids now who don't play outdoors, who are content sitting in their bedrooms looking at a screen, who do not know how to be active and socialize.

I'm mentioning these two parallels simply because it's so common, and so easy to avoid. It makes me really sad to see beautiful, smart and funny people be angry, sad or demotivated because they're at work 40-60 hours a week, all in hopes of making more money to buy more things to make them feel better about actually being empty inside because there's no time to create and to do things they love to do (whew).

GET ACTIVE. DO STUFF. Work hard -- at something -- it's healthy, it's necessary. Men specifically need to use up some testosterone. Take a martial arts class, for God's sake. Or dance, if you're that kind of man. Women, do yoga, dance, walk a lot, get outside. Everyone GTFOutside! Stop working so much, and stop wanting to spend so much money on useless garbage. The world has enough garbage that Forever 21 or H&M doesn't have to create any more dump.

This was supposed to be a positive post ... but at least you see where some of my issues lie with the human condition. I try to integrate these beliefs into my lifestyle by purchasing mostly second hand items, shopping at local or small businesses, supporting the little guys, keeping a smaller space so my rent isn't so high meaning I don't have to work so much, and being able in turn to create more and give back to my community in a positive way -- because I have enough energy to give away without expecting in return.