Workaholic

Yesterday, a thought occurred to me:

Why is not working frowned upon?

I don't mean unemployment. I don't mean laziness. I mean, why is it that whenever I'm standing around at work because there's nothing to do, I get told to do some totally worthless, unnecessary job? Why is it that when at my volunteer job this week, whenever I finish my task I'm sent out to help in a place that doesn't need me and normally I end up standing around doing nothing in a different place? What's so wrong with being still for a moment?

I've come to the conclusion that people are afflicted with workism (if alcoholism creates alcoholics, then workaholics must have workism. Get it?). We're obsessed with movement, progress, accomplishment. We need to work work work, produce produce produce, only resting for absolutely no more than 8 hours at night. Our entire lives our consumed with work. And I, for one, think that is wrong. I don't believe humans were created to work from the second they were born to the second they die. I believe humanity is supposed to take time to smell the roses. Take time to enjoy the world we live in, the life we've been given. Slow down and notice what's around us and stop being so preoccupied with getting things done.

So I'm taking a one-woman stand against workism. I'm not going to always look for a job to do. That's not to say that I'll ignore the work I have to do. When I have work that needs to be done, I'll do it. But when work is finished, I'm not going to go out of my way to find something else to do. I'm going to enjoy my fleeting youth, I'm going to appreciate the life I've been given. I hope someone will find this post and agree with me, and maybe even join me.