Just quit, you've worked long enough

After a couple weeks off there is absolutely nothing worse than having to get back into the routine of getting up early, struggling out of bed, stumbling down the stairs and rushing off to work.  I guess I’m lucky at least I got the two weeks off and I’ll get some time off for Easter and then the summer, the glorious summer vacation that allows a total reprieve of all things serious, but that’s still four months away and now it’s 5:00 am the sun hasn’t even thought about getting up and I’m trying to decide if it’s all worth it?

Of course it’s worth it but the drudgery of having to get up, having to be someplace at an appointed time and having to put in a preset number of hours has always gone against my inbreed ideal of freedom.  Oh I understand the need to work and the need to bring home a paycheck but that does not negate the feeling of having to work when the dream of life is to simply be without the constraints of time or responsibility. It must have something to do with my overwhelming desire to eat.

Can you imagine a society that does not have to work? A free and open collective of human souls free to choose their imaginary paths each and every day devoid of the problems related to responsibility, work or devotion to anything important?  Can you envision a life of summers, no cares, no worries, no pressures to contribute or produce just you and the unlimited potential of an eternal dream?

It does sound nice, and it does cause a burning desire within my soul but how long could something like that last, could a group of people really subsist in such a culture, who would feed them, who would provide for them and who would decide who got to join?

If it were a reality I believe I would get up a lot earlier that 5:00 am at my chance to be selected but therein lays one of the major problems.  I’m willing to get up early to get what I want and the type of person who wants that dream is more than likely a motivated individual with dreams and interests or at the least a person who understands that nothing is really for free.  There is always a cost.  That cost is either born by the individual or by others.  In order to sustain a free living soul it will most likely take the efforts of more than one in order to provide for the needs of the free seeking, creating the illusion of freedom but the freedom of one is never totally born by that one, there are always others involved creating a debt that needs to be pain in order for that freedom to be appreciated and enjoyed.

It’s hard to get up early, it’s difficult to drive to work, swing a hammer, stand in front a classroom, sit in an office or the thousands upon thousands of duties we perform so we can realize a weekend off with family.  Is it worth it?  You are the only ones who can answer that question.  Is it worth it to you?

There are many days that it seems as though it’s not.  We work too much, too hard and spend most of our time away from the ones we love and the things we love to do, that part of working is not fun, not enjoyable in the least.  If only we could just quit, go golfing, fishing or just lay out on a sandy beach and surf when the waves were perfect, the sun shining, a cool breeze and the water is just right…..there I go dreaming again, I did say it was 5:00 am.

I guess the real question we are faced with is how do we realize our dreams knowing that we have to work?  Some call that retirement but retirement from work or from the places we work for?  Work is important, being actively engaged is a good thing, it helps us stay grounded and happy.  The real problem of not wanting to work is that it takes us away from the ideal of working toward something and man needs something to work toward.  Living to surf, living to fish or golf is not what makes man exceptional it’s the service toward others…the idea that we are a contributing factor in the family of man and integral part of the machinery that allows us all to live together.  That machine breaks down often with individuals who want to control or manipulate but it’s the everyday guy the mothers and daughters getting up early, going to work with the hope in their hearts that always keeps the machinery greased and running.  It’s the dedication to family, friends and neighbors that wrests control of those massive levers from the despots of the world and brings us back again to the sanity that is our lives.  

We work to live, we work to thrive and we work because we know, deep down inside it is the only way to retain our sanity, our goodness and our humanity.  Now I have to hurry or ill be late for work…