Is it really worth it?

[Coquito]

Originally posted by: Attrox
Same feeling here
I've been dreaming to just stop doing what I'm doing, pack my bag and just travel. But you need $ for that unfortunately.

Forget the hotels & spas, just travel.

 

[everman]

Just do something you like, or something that enables you to reach your goal. For some people they may love the job. For others they may love how much free time a job allows them so they can pursue their real goals. Just don't get stuck doing things you hate because there's only one chance at it all.

 

[whistleclient]

This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
honestly i work hard now so i wont have to when i am 40 years old, i'll be able to spend time with my family and friends and enjoy life, i figure i had a reak until i was 18, i'll work my ass of from 18-40 and coast the rest of my life. chasing the zeros in your bank account now will set you up later.

And what do you gain if you die tomorrow though?

It's a huge gamble to assume that you'll be around when the "payoff" comes. And what if it's not as much of a payoff as you think it will be even if we're around? 40 years old is at the beginning of the decline. I'm not sure that I really see the value in being able to "coast" when I'm 40. And not just because I know that by the time I'm 40, all I'll want to do is "coast", and long for the days when my body was younger and I didn't have to coast.

Wouldn't it be better to have a sustainable job that gives a sense of pride and accomplishment while allowing time for a life outside of work? A job that one could work when young and when old and be able to enjoy the life outside of work in both scenarios? Enjoy the work itself even?

Why should our job be a means to an end? Why do we see it that way and accept it, even like it? Would it not be better if we saw our job as an extension of who we are? Would it not be better if we could take as much enjoyment from the job in and of itself as we do from the contemplation of a flower or of poetry?

I've seen enough to make me want to change.

ZV

 

[desk]

Zenmervolt....i've been thinking about exactly what you said for a while now. that's why i'll be quitting my job in the next couple months to travel around the country (im 25).....more on that later.

 

[Nebor]

Yup, life sucks.

 

[jagec]

:music:Suicide is painless...it brings on many changes...:music:

 

[n7]

I think you are realizing something i already know.

Money will never make one happy.
Success will never make one happy.
Power will never make one happy.

Life is about taking things one day at a time, enjoying those stupid little things, spending time with friends, family, & loved ones.

Life is about doing what makes you happy, even if it means being "poor" & living simply.

There is obviously a balance (one has to make some money to survive), but i believe in living life doing what i want, not what will make me loads of money, or make me successful.

I hope you find what it is you are seeking, since some people never do.


IMO, live life in the present, & look forward to the future & what it brings.

Don't try to live life for the future to enjoy it then, or it will be too late.

 

[MetalMat]

Put it this way, you could take a gamble and possibly get alot of money without a college education, but I aint.

 

[Landroval]

Good questions.

 

[desk]

Originally posted by: n7
I think you are realizing something i already know.

Money will never make one happy.
Success will never make one happy.
Power will never make one happy.

Life is about taking things one day at a time, enjoying those stupid little things, spending time with friends, family, & loved ones.

Life is about doing what makes you happy, even if it means being "poor" & living simply.

There is obviously a balance (one has to make some money to survive), but i believe in living life doing what i want, not what will make me loads of money, or make me successful.

I hope you find what it is you are seeking, since some people never do.


IMO, live life in the present, & look forward to the future & what it brings.

Don't try to live life for the future to enjoy it then, or it will be too late.

:thumbsup:

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Nebor
Yup, life sucks.

No, life is a beautiful and wonderful thing. It's the greatest gift we're given. Make no mistake my friend, life itself is good and always will be.

It's the ways we choose to waste it that suck.

ZV

 

[PHiuR]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Ameesh
honestly i work hard now so i wont have to when i am 40 years old, i'll be able to spend time with my family and friends and enjoy life, i figure i had a reak until i was 18, i'll work my ass of from 18-40 and coast the rest of my life. chasing the zeros in your bank account now will set you up later.

And what do you gain if you die tomorrow though?

It's a huge gamble to assume that you'll be around when the "payoff" comes. And what if it's not as much of a payoff as you think it will be even if we're around? 40 years old is at the beginning of the decline. I'm not sure that I really see the value in being able to "coast" when I'm 40. And not just because I know that by the time I'm 40, all I'll want to do is "coast", and long for the days when my body was younger and I didn't have to coast.

Wouldn't it be better to have a sustainable job that gives a sense of pride and accomplishment while allowing time for a life outside of work? A job that one could work when young and when old and be able to enjoy the life outside of work in both scenarios? Enjoy the work itself even?

Why should our job be a means to an end? Why do we see it that way and accept it, even like it? Would it not be better if we saw our job as an extension of who we are? Would it not be better if we could take as much enjoyment from the job in and of itself as we do from the contemplation of a flower or of poetry?

I've seen enough to make me want to change.

ZV

very well said...been thinking about life/this for a realllly long time even though im 18. just wondering why people do this. why not enjoy work and enjoy life at the same time? a lot of people talk about hating their jobs because there is so much work, why not just get a job that you like/can survive on.

im not liking my workload in college because im used to just being lazy, I really want to just pass college without struggling through it. but is that possible? i just want to be myself and live...

this is probably because of the way we were brought up, society hammered ideas into our heads to want to get $ so we can buy lots of stuff.

argh..got a project due and i prob wont finish it...20% of my grade...why am i doing this to myself?

 

[lokiju]

Take yourself a long and good vacation and you'll feel better about things.

I noticed that a lot of us 20 somethings don't really take "real" vacations, and they do help recharge you a whole lot.

 

[MaxDepth]

I'm still at work becuase those fVck heads in Europe cannot do their own friggin job and think they can just dump it at the last moment and be done with it. I've already fired off the emails saying this will not be tolerated any longer. I got an email from two bosses up from me that has been montering the situation. He agrees and just copied me on a email that he will be having a "come to Jesus" meeting with them Monday morning.

As for those comments of wasted youth, your COO said those things right? Maybe he's looking to cut some of the youth loose. Anyone smell firings in the wind there?

 

[PHiuR]

by the way, a very good friend of mine wants to start an experiment/commune type deal somewhere after college because we all discussed about how messed up our society is. we just talk and share ideas.

I personally think it's a great idea if you want to just live life like were suppose to?

a part of me wants to join him but my other half or 60% doesnt because i want to fit the social norm... i want to have a good job (why im in college) make a good amount of $, have a nice girlfriend/wife. and have material goods...

if i decide to just "live life" i probably wont be making enough money to support a family/myself in our society.

this can lead to so many discussions about how we can change our society....yea ill leave it at that.

 

[dsfunk]

:beer:

 

[Maetryx]

Zenmervolt, you probably need to sit down and do some long range planning. From your plans, set goals. Then identify the steps need to attain those goals. If those steps aren't attainable, then identify the steps that will attain the steps that will attain the goals, etc. I think a lot of folks accidently make some credential or other their only goal. Once they have the credential they realize that it was only in the getting of the credential that they had meaning.

Make big goals. Maybe some of them are financial. Some are personal. Some may be geographical. Some may be situational. But make sure none of them are "oh I want this certificate" or "oh I want a Ph.D. ". Those are just steps. Not goals.

 

[radioouman]

I went through the same thing that you did when I first started working.
I wanted to be outside working over anything that I could do inside. Eventually I caved in and did what my employer wants, but I have learned to make the best of every free evening and take advantage of opportunities that come up in my life. I pack my weekends full of fun stuff and I work for an employer that gives me more vacation than my last. I think that I'm doing well while still living within my means and putting a nice amount away for retirement. It's all that I can do.

 

[Analog]

Well ZV, I am over 40, and I was like you in my 20s. Nobody can lead your life or give you 100% insight, but from my experience, working your tail off and then kicking back is not likely going to happen. Typically the cycle will feed on itself, your obligations change, you have kids, get a bigger house etc. etc. Ultimately, I've seen many of my friends from college get caught in this cycle.

I believe that you must follow your heart, not your head. Thinking that you will have enough zeros in the bank account, or that you will plan your future to the nth degree is not a great idea, and quite possibly a miserable way to go, leaving little flexibility.

If you're heart tells you to do something, or go in a different direction, you really should think about doing it, because you're internally then motivated to make that dream a reality. And if that is really to work your ass off and feel like crap at the end of each day, then by all means do it. But it seems to me that you are questioning this concept.

Surely being loved by your co-workers and getting great reviews is fine and dandy, but also remember that the corporation is a cold lifeless entity. They can dump you in 10 or more years and not even flinch. I've seen that as well. I sense that you feel the emptiness of the corporate lifestyle - really very few people devote their lives to corporations and get any real happiness from it.

I wish you well in your endeavors.

RM

 

[ohnnyj]

This sounds eerily similar to a King Solomon, you really should read Ecclesiastes from the Bible.

It begins.."Meaningless, meaningless says the teacher. Everything is meaningless." But in the end he finds that although life may seem pointless it is simply the fact that this is earth and not heaven, so there is no way we can have heaven on earth. We can make the experience more pleasurable by trying to enjoy it by not doing the sorts of things that are eating you away, but it pales in comparison to what we can experience after this life.

 

[imported_Reck]

we are enslaved into work to make other people big money. the whole system is just so completely fcked up...I'm not sure I'd wanna be a part of it.

 

[Pacfanweb]

When you have children, you'll know that all you do to support them is worth it.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Nebor
Yup, life sucks.

No, life is a beautiful and wonderful thing. It's the greatest gift we're given. Make no mistake my friend, life itself is good and always will be.

It's the ways we choose to waste it that suck.

ZV

Yes, it is a beautiful thing, but for humanity, there is no meaning to existance except the once that you make on your own.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
As for those comments of wasted youth, your COO said those things right? Maybe he's looking to cut some of the youth loose. Anyone smell firings in the wind there?

Actually, the COO was praising us all for the time we spend in the office and saying how great it was to be put in charge of the company's big profit center. Telling all the recent hires (largest incoming new hire group in the company's 70+ year history) how much opportunity there is for them to rise if they are willing to work hard.

It was his praise of this whole "work yourself to death" ethic that made me wonder about all this.

And for the record, I'm not saying not to work at all. But there's a lot to be said for a simple house out in the country and a "good old boy" 40 hour/week job. I'm way too Midwestern not to believe in the virtues of hard work, but that work should be a source of joy and a fuel to one's life and soul, rather than a drain on it.

Maetryx, you're very right. Whole life was focused on getting a job after having a degree. I'm "done" now. Graduated in the top of my HS class and made the step to a good college. Graduated in the top of that class too and made the step to living on my own. Kicked arse in a contractor job and got hired full-time by another department in the same company and now there's the realization that I'm not getting anything back for all the effort I'm putting in and that if I keep this up, as YellowFiero said, I'll get sucked into the same cycle.

Perhaps someday I'll look back on this as the time I really saw what I needed to see.

ZV