The risks of working

One. Nobody wants to get up early in the morning unless they find the justification for it to be extremely meaningful or interesting. There have been times I have found myself genuinely excited to get up early in the mornings just to be able to achieve certain goals I had set for myself in the long run, even in spite of my body screaming for more sleep and relaxation. Even though there are a few exceptions to this rule, these moments of excitement have far too rarely been because of my salary-compensated work. In comparison to the majority of people, I doubt that I am much of an exception: 98 % of people don't want to work and a great deal only work to get paid. By working, you risk using your life for something you genuinely don't want to do.

Two. By working, you risk running out of your most precious asset there is: time. Time and time again I find myself thinking about the concept of... time. Once gone, you cannot have it back, ever again. Ergo, by surrendering yourself to work, you are exchanging your time for a monetary compensation. Note that the second risk of working is a close relative of the first risk of working, for by forcing yourself to do something uninteresting you will drastically increase your chances of wasting your limited time on something that rewards you with nothing but superficial things.

Three. Working can be dangerous, too. At times, people injure themselves physically when working. Other times, the injuries sustained may be emotional. Emotional injuries can steam from many sources, but classic examples include work-related stress and burnouts. Finally, working is a social burden on us all. Say that you had a Monday filled with social interactions at your job, and all of those interactions bombed in some way – perhaps even a few arguments ensued. There you go: you are good to go for a particularly lousy start for the whole week, and will end up carrying the burden with you until at the very least Thursday.

Four. Salaries and wages are a drug. Receiving them can be intoxicating, and will rapidly lead to you getting hooked up until the point of no return. By having no other means of income, you are making yourself completely dependent on your employer and your monthly salary or wages. In the rare case you are receiving a handsome monetary reward for working, you may even end up imagining that your well-paid job will last you for a lifetime. This is a particularly risky illusion and form of addiction.

Five. Finally, by working, you will risk giving up your energy, motivations, ideas, and innovation to the work. By the time your shift is done, you will be out of them all – a dry, tired shell of yourself.

Any number or combination of these risks may come to realization. Now, get a load of this thought: on this planet, there are an incredible number of people who constantly get up in the morning just to do things that are of no interest to them, having limited chances and time to do things which do interest them, possibly harming themselves in the process, just to be absolutely and completely exhausted in the evening. Yet, they find themselves unable to stop.

Are you one of them?