Like most people I sometime ask myself “Why Bother?”. I get up and go to work. It can take me up to an hour to get there depending on the traffic. Then I do my job which takes me 8 hours. Then I set sail on the one hour journey home. I get home cook some dinner have a beer or two and go to bed. I get up and do it again. Once a week I get paid. I pay my bills, I have to admit i do have a little bit of fun, pay my mortgage and start again the week after.
Why do we do this? I live in the cheapest part of the city, in one of the cheapest units. I work full time and by the time I pay for my myself to live another week I’m pretty much broke. There’s no gambling or drug problems here. Lord knows I couldn’t afford either of those. I don’t do fancy dining, in fact the only thing I do is have a few beers at home. It’s certainly not hookers and coke lifestyle here 🙁 . I find it very disheartening that a person can work full time and end every week broke. To be fair, I’m paying down a loan on my flat so at some point I’ll own it. By then, I’ll probably be too old to really enjoy it by then, but that’s another story.
CHINA LIES DOWN
Some countries have it worse. China makes its workers do 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. I do just under 40 hours a week to maintain the standard of poverty I’ve become accustomed to. These people do 72 hours a week to achieve even less. So what is the point of actually working if you can’t afford to do anything other than exist? Infact China is now starting to buckle under the pressure of constant work. Here’s an interesting article on work culture in China. This is an extreme example but I can see Australia and America both going this way. I’m glad they’re standing up for themselves over there China Lies Flat
I’m starting to feel that If I’m not going to make enough be able to raise a family or pay down an even halfway decent house why even bother? I’d rather just bum around and enjoy my life. We’re only here for 70 or so years why spend all it working for the man and not get any benefits out of it?
During the covid outbreak, I needed to get on social security to make it through. I had a lot of free time and applied myself to making a little money on the side and found I could get by just fine. I made a fair amount less money doing things this way, but when you factor in no money going out the door on fuel, parking, tax, meals at work etc… i didn’t feel like i was doing too bad. In essence I found that a large portion of the wages I earned were going on keeping myself going back to work. I work for the government so my wage is fairly reasonable, or at least reasonably average. There are many that have it a lot worse off than me. But if you work for a company or business and you’re getting some really basic wage to barely exist, then why bother? I’d rather move out to the country and actually enjoy my life.
WHAT ARE YOU REALLY WORKING FOR?
I feel that If I’m not going to make enough money to have some good levels of fun, or do anything fulfilling in my life, then why bloody bother? I guess it comes down to would you rather work and be comfortably poor, or be poor but not have to spend my entire life going to and from work. The choice to do the right thing by working is getting harder and harder every year.
Who is making the money? Is it your boss? The corporation you work for? Is nobody making any real money and we’re all just treading along for no real reason. Life is a gift. Sure you need to work hard to get ahead but make sure you WORK SMART rather than just working hard. There is no point in wasting the gift that is your life on someone that isn’t going to reward you in return. That goes for all areas of life not just your work. I need some level of income to get buy but I have that now, its either time to work on increasing that income by getting a better job or doing something on the side to make more money or focus on claiming some of my life back. Or maybe even a combination of the two.
Why did I go off on this rant? I should be grateful that I have a job. And I am grateful for it too. But now its time to set my sights a little higher and not seek out just an existance, but to get more out of life and work. To either get back some of my free time or find a job that actually affords me a few luxuries or the option of having a little more fun than I do right now.
*
