I am not joking. Even on the weekends, I'm doing something useful, like cleaning the house (which is actual work), fixing the house, taking care of the car, taking care of the children, etc. All these things are real jobs that would otherwise have to be hired out. In the few times I've been unemployed and had nothing to do, I made something to do. For example during one stretch of unemployment I learned to do woodworking, and sold several pieces. If I didn't work one more day a week, I think I may spend more time on house repair, which again is the same as increasing my income, because it'd be a job I didn't hire out. In fact, on the rare occasion I actually have nothing to do on a weekend, I typically start a new home improvement project, or start looking for more real estate to buy so I can acquire a new home improvement project.
My mother is the same way. She's been retired for many years, but she still works. She sews everyday. Sells some, or gives them away, but it's actual work to do what she does.
My father also has been retired, but keeps doing actual jobs for people. For example, he helped old people with taxes for a while (got paid). Then he became some finance thing in his parish, which is an actual job as well, even if he doesn't accept payment.
My grandmother was the same way too, which explains why she lived til a ripe old age. She never stopped working. Sewing, cleaning, cooking, etc. She was on a strict schedule.
My grandfather was the same way. The month before he died, he was still doing my aunt's yardwork on a strict schedule. The man had the strictest regimen imaginable.
My wife is like I am. If there's nothing to do, she'll start doing art projects (many of which end up getting sold, gifted, or used in lieu of bought decorations).
My brother and SIL are the same way. Constantly working on random things. Often income producing.
Broadly speaking, we are a successful family, because we rarely stop working. That's not to say we don't relax, but even relaxing takes work. For example, orchestrating a vacation with two children is actual work. But work is nothing to be upset by. Ideally, most of your life is spent working.
The main problem with work in American society today is not the work part. It's the fact that you're doing someone else's work, and that most work is not manual, tactile, or creative. It'd be better if more people did their own work, instead of hiring it out in some grand ponzi scheme. I'd recommend reading the rule of St Benedict. This is an ancient idea. It's really terrible, and boring, to do nothing all the time. It's more fun to do stuff.
Again, I literally mean this. As a child, I'd often sit around and complain about being bored (parents didn't buy us video games or movies, and computers were for working). My dad would solve this by giving me manual labor tasks. That is how I solved my boredom as a child. One day my dad decided he wanted a sprinkler system, so that became my brother's and my job when we said we were bored. I don't understand why this should be seen as sad or as working too much. We were happy to do it, and it beat being bored.
I'll quickly point out that while I am American, my parents are immigrants, and my grandparents and they were born and raised in another culture. My grandparents lived the majority of their life in another non-Western country.
That's fine. You can still work if you want (for yourself or someone else) on the fifth day. Just allow others to have the possibility to "not work" (although, in my case, I would spend the fifth day writing, reading, coding, running... it's not like I will lay on bed all day).
And exactly when do you and your family expect to finally live and not just slave yourselves fighting against entropy?
You’re not going to live forever man.
I am not preaching you to become an hedonistic YOLO type, but did it never occurred to you that some balance is needed?
We have parties, large gatherings all the time. Those take a lot of work.
Frankly the people who typically tell me this also tend to have less fun than we do. We're constantly drinking partying and having fun with each other. I'm not against taking breaks. But even the word 'break' implies that it is a departure from the norm
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I am not joking. Even on the weekends, I'm doing something useful, like cleaning the house (which is actual work), fixing the house, taking care of the car, taking care of the children, etc. All these things are real jobs that would otherwise have to be hired out. In the few times I've been unemployed and had nothing to do, I made something to do. For example during one stretch of unemployment I learned to do woodworking, and sold several pieces. If I didn't work one more day a week, I think I may spend more time on house repair, which again is the same as increasing my income, because it'd be a job I didn't hire out. In fact, on the rare occasion I actually have nothing to do on a weekend, I typically start a new home improvement project, or start looking for more real estate to buy so I can acquire a new home improvement project.
My mother is the same way. She's been retired for many years, but she still works. She sews everyday. Sells some, or gives them away, but it's actual work to do what she does.
My father also has been retired, but keeps doing actual jobs for people. For example, he helped old people with taxes for a while (got paid). Then he became some finance thing in his parish, which is an actual job as well, even if he doesn't accept payment.
My grandmother was the same way too, which explains why she lived til a ripe old age. She never stopped working. Sewing, cleaning, cooking, etc. She was on a strict schedule.
My grandfather was the same way. The month before he died, he was still doing my aunt's yardwork on a strict schedule. The man had the strictest regimen imaginable.
My wife is like I am. If there's nothing to do, she'll start doing art projects (many of which end up getting sold, gifted, or used in lieu of bought decorations).
My brother and SIL are the same way. Constantly working on random things. Often income producing.
Broadly speaking, we are a successful family, because we rarely stop working. That's not to say we don't relax, but even relaxing takes work. For example, orchestrating a vacation with two children is actual work. But work is nothing to be upset by. Ideally, most of your life is spent working.
The main problem with work in American society today is not the work part. It's the fact that you're doing someone else's work, and that most work is not manual, tactile, or creative. It'd be better if more people did their own work, instead of hiring it out in some grand ponzi scheme. I'd recommend reading the rule of St Benedict. This is an ancient idea. It's really terrible, and boring, to do nothing all the time. It's more fun to do stuff.
Again, I literally mean this. As a child, I'd often sit around and complain about being bored (parents didn't buy us video games or movies, and computers were for working). My dad would solve this by giving me manual labor tasks. That is how I solved my boredom as a child. One day my dad decided he wanted a sprinkler system, so that became my brother's and my job when we said we were bored. I don't understand why this should be seen as sad or as working too much. We were happy to do it, and it beat being bored.
I'll quickly point out that while I am American, my parents are immigrants, and my grandparents and they were born and raised in another culture. My grandparents lived the majority of their life in another non-Western country.
That's fine. You can still work if you want (for yourself or someone else) on the fifth day. Just allow others to have the possibility to "not work" (although, in my case, I would spend the fifth day writing, reading, coding, running... it's not like I will lay on bed all day).
And exactly when do you and your family expect to finally live and not just slave yourselves fighting against entropy? You’re not going to live forever man. I am not preaching you to become an hedonistic YOLO type, but did it never occurred to you that some balance is needed?
We have parties, large gatherings all the time. Those take a lot of work.
Frankly the people who typically tell me this also tend to have less fun than we do. We're constantly drinking partying and having fun with each other. I'm not against taking breaks. But even the word 'break' implies that it is a departure from the norm