LABOR
Doing what you must to survive.
A remedy for idleness
and inertia.
Production parceled in
units of time.
Only recourse when
necessity prods the child.
Activity you can
occasionally exchange in bartering.
Forces you to do and
be more than what you planned.
Often determines what
you become whether you like it or not.
A constant battle
between tedium and a sense of accomplishment.
Ideally the enjoyable,
efficacious use of acquired knowledge and skills.
Determines many of our
days filling them with abhorrence, forbearance and satisfaction.
- Perhaps what we
do and how we do it is not as important as what it makes of
us.
- Perhaps any
effort at making money is resented when the bare essentials
are elusive.
- Perhaps a vital
element for a happy life is enthusiasm when you wake to a
day of labor.
- Perhaps if you
work for a wage you will always find it difficult to
reconcile effort and reward.
- Perhaps when work
becomes oppressive drudgery it must be abandoned if at all
possible.
- Perhaps a
lifetime's work becomes a blur next to memories of loving
moments with family and friends.
- Perhaps childhood
challenges, responsibilities and accomplishments are
essential to developing an adult ‘work ethic’.
- Perhaps the ideal
of enjoying your work most of the time should never be
abandoned; perhaps, if it is, you risk your peace of mind
being overcome by resentment.
- Perhaps defining
yourself by your work gives you a sense of who you are and
worth; perhaps however, too much pride can stultify
initiative and the cultivation of new skills.
- Perhaps a
periodic change of focus is essential if you are to sustain
enthusiasm for your work; perhaps businesses that encourage
diversity run more efficiently with satisfied, stable
employees.
ESSAY
ON LABOR by EDWIN
O’SHEA
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