Workaholism- The Block of Life!!!
Dhaval Mehta, Solicitor
Founder & Managing Partner, D. M. Legal Associates | Seasoned Attorney | Legal Counsel I Arbitrator & Skilled Negotiator I Insolvency Professional | Litigation Expert I Asset Restructuring Specialist
You must have noticed how people who are addicted to work, who turn everything into work, have filled life with tension and only tension. All anxieties of life are the handiwork of the workaholics; they have turned life into a workshop. Their slogan is, do or die. They say, ”Do something as long as you are alive, or die if you cannot do anything.” They have no other vision of life except work. And they don’t have even the right perspective of work. Work for what? Why does the man work?
Man works so he can live. And what does living mean? To live means to celebrate life. We work so that we can have a moment of dance in our lives. Really, work is just a means to celebrate life.
But the irony is that the way we live there is no leisure left to sing and dance and celebrate life. We turn means into an end; we make work the be-all and end-all of life. And then life is confined between two places, our home, and the office. Home to office and back home is all we know of life. In fact, home ceases to be home, we bring our office home with us after we leave it in the evening. Then psychologically we are in a mess; we live an entangled life, a confused and listless life. Then we keep running for the rest of our lives in the hope that someday we will have time to relax, rest and enjoy life. But that day really never comes; it will never come. Really, workaholics will never know that there is rest and joy and bliss in life.
Except for man, the whole world takes life as a play, fun. Ask a flower why it blooms. For what? It blooms without a purpose. A star moves across the sky without a purpose. And purposelessly the wind blows and keeps blowing. Except for man, everything under the sun is a play, a carnival. Only man works and toils and sheds copious tears. Except for man, the whole cosmos is celebrating. Every moment of it is a celebration.
It does not mean that there will be no work if we turn life into a celebration. It is not that the wind does not work; it is always moving, blowing. It is not that the stars are idle; they are constantly moving. It is not that flowers don’t do anything when they bloom; really, they do a lot. But for them, doing it is not that important; what is important is being. Being is primary and doing is secondary for them. The celebration comes first and work takes a back seat in their lives. Work is preparatory to the celebration.
If you go and watch the way the primitive tribes live, you will know what work is in relation to the celebration. They work the whole day so they can sing and dance with abandon at night. But the civilized man works not only during the day but also at night. He takes pride in working day and night. And if you ask him why he works, he will say that he works today so he can relax tomorrow. He postpones relaxation and continues to work in the hope that he will relax someday. But that day never comes for him.
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May I ask what man has achieved by working day in and day out? It is different if he works for the love of work, but I would like to know what he has achieved so far by working meaninglessly?
These workaholics have turned the whole world into a madhouse. Everyone is mad with running and reaching somewhere. And no man knows where this ”somewhere” is. I have heard that a man got into a taxi and asked the driver to drive fast. And the taxi sped. After a little while, the driver inquired where he had to go, and the man said, ”That is not the question, I have to go fast."
Everyone in the world is running like him, everyone is hurrying through life. ”Hurry up,” has become our watchword. But no one asks, ”Where are we going?” We work hard, but we don’t know why we work so hard. One does not even have time to think about why he is toiling day in and day out. He is running just because his neighbor is running, his friends are running, and the whole world is running. Everyone is running for fear of being left behind by the other runners.
Obsession with work has taken away the moments of celebration from our life, and we have been deprived of the excitement and thrill that comes with the celebration. That is why nobody is happy, nobody is cheerful, and nobody is blossoming. That is why suffering has become the badge of mankind.
We had to find a substitute for celebration, and entertainment is that substitute because we do need a few moments of relaxation, a brief spell of diversion. But entertainment is a very poor substitute because others do it and we are only spectators. It is like the vicarious pleasure we derive from watching someone in love. This is precisely what you do when you watch a movie. You watch a man and woman loving each other and you enjoy it vicariously. It is a false substitute; it is utterly useless. It is not going to give you a taste of love; it is not going to satiate your thirst for love. On the other hand, your disaffection and torment will deepen and land you in still greater misery.