Getting back to work

"But the truth is that working gives you so much"
Work gives a salary and that's all, you rather say, it takes so much!
Take it from someone that work his ass of from the age of 14.

and you think being unemployed would make you feel better?

I love my work and go there with a happy face every single day The salary is just a big bonus.

Well as it turns out I had not choice to get back into even if I felt sluggish. Two of my bigger customers have large projects on the go and one with a very short time line to design the tooling need and get it to them.

I mostly work for the health insurance. My job is meh and I wouldn't miss it.

Originally Posted by CelticFrost
Anyone else finding it hard to get motivated after taking a bunch of holidays as they get older?

What has getting older got to do with it!

Originally Posted by Sacred_Path
and you think being unemployed would make you feel better?

You're confusing your points. Of course unemployment makes you feel better, just as having lots of money makes you feel better. What really stinks is low wages for long hours of work

Originally Posted by lackblogger
You're confusing your points. Of course unemployment makes you feel better, just as having lots of money makes you feel better. What really stinks is low wages for long hours of work

I'd say that unemployment (without being in financial dire straits) made me feel out of loop with the world and disconnected from everyone. YMMV.

Originally Posted by Sacred_Path
I'd say that unemployment (without being in financial dire straits) made me feel out of loop with the world and disconnected from everyone. YMMV.

I'm pretty sure there are many low paid jobs which would do that to you

I can tell you that I've met literally hundreds of people whose main aim in life is to recover their health to the point where they can go back to work. For many people, it's an absolutely essential part of life for their wellbeing.

Originally Posted by Ripper
I can tell you that I've met literally hundreds of people whose main aim in life is to recover their health to the point where they can go back to work. For many people, it's an absolutely essential part of life for their wellbeing.

I was making a point based on a clear definition of what someone constitutes work and how the term 'work' can be a variable entity. You respond with just the phrase 'work'. I can assure I've also met hundreds of people who are more than willing to forgoe a period of unemployment in order to escape something truly mind-numbing…

It also depends on perspective.

If you reduce your job to a 9-5 experience that yields a paycheck so you can live your "real life"… then thats all you are going to get.

If you look at it that you are doing something greater and the paycheck is a bonus, then its so much easier to "work". You can call it hopeless optimism or whatever, but it does help when you have bad days.

Personal examples :
When I worked at a hospital I was helping save lives, cure people, make their life a little bit better.
When I worked in finance I was helping people achieve their dreams, build their houses, save for retirement.
When I worked in construction, I was literally building peoples dreams, making neighborhoods exist, creating communities.
Now I create jobs, I'm responsible for keeping people employed.

Sure.. in every single role I could focus on the negative. When you are hauling material at 2am unpaid overtime on a jobsite thats over budget and overdue, its hard to see positives.
When you are dealing with the 100'th entitled bastard customer of the day, its hard to maintain a positive outlook that doesn't involve killing them.

Sometimes its not about the tasks, but about the over arching mindset. I have members on my board that haven't held a "real job" for years. Whether they are independently wealthy or just live simply enough to retire young. They still "work". Many of them are on multiple boards, volunteer for multiple causes, donate their time etc. They are fulfilled without the paycheck.

If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery. If you want to be happy for a lifetime, love what you do.

Originally Posted by lackblogger
I was making a point based on a clear definition of what someone constitutes work and how the term 'work' can be a variable entity. You respond with just the phrase 'work'. I can assure I've also met hundreds of people who are more than willing to forgoe a period of unemployment in order to escape something truly mind-numbing…

Two out of three of those sentences make no sense. Also, I wasn't responding to you, I was speaking to Sacred Path's feelings.

And, here was your original statement:

Originally Posted by lackblogger
Of course unemployment makes you feel better, just as having lots of money makes you feel better.

Originally Posted by lackblogger
I'm pretty sure there are many low paid jobs which would do that to you

I'm not getting paid for my apprenticeship at all (officially - I do get the minimum wage via social services). Just having something that structures your day by necessity and makes you feel a part of the whole is, well, wholesome.

I'm not arguing that some people can enjoy their money without working - good for them, maybe. It doesn't work for me though.

My first practicum was 3 years unpaid completely. The only $ you got was if you did nightshift for minimum wage. Thats on TOP of your normal day shifts.
Sucked to the max.

I work in an area of employment where it actually gets easier the older you get, lol. Or, rather, the old adage of if I knew now what I knew then, but the problem is the job I do I hard, very hard, on a young person's phyche, and this only eases with age, but unfortunately, just as you're able to relax with the work, your body starts to give up and the physical aspect becomes harder.

But physical issues are A LOT easier to handle than psychological issues.

As you say Wisdom, it's mostly perspective. We all tend to hold our views based on what we ourselves experience. However, you just have to turn on the news to see this issue in all its modern glory. Millions, upon millions, of people are choosing the most horrendous deprivations just to find 'better' work. And we all know that they will be finding the worst our Western world has to offer, but they will still believe that to be 'better' because they perceive our crappy jobs as 'better paid' than their old 'crappy' jobs.

When, as Wisdom rightly points out, the only enjoyable work is the work that makes you feel involved in the work beyond the concept of a paycheck. Sadly, the majority of 'waged' jobs simply don't provide this and many that do are controlled by the the concepts of bonuses and commission rather than 'wages', forcing the employee to endue activities they might not necessarily like to sleep well on.

Originally Posted by Sacred_Path
I'd say that unemployment (without being in financial dire straits) made me feel out of loop with the world and disconnected from everyone. YMMV.

I hear that. When the economy went downhill, I was out of work for around six months. Toward the end of that, it started to wear pretty thin.

The thing is - trying to get a job IS a job, even if it isn't a lot of hard work after the first few days of getting your resume in order. Somebody could call with a job interview at any time so you've got to be ready to go all of the time. If you're actually retired then you don't have to worry about that. You can join a book club or a bowling league or whatever and see other people outside of the grocery store scene.

I believe the main thing here is what your social life looks like.

For example, if you have a hobby which takes up a lot of your time and which you really enjoy, you'll probably not have a problem ( except financially ) with not working.

But if you don't have many hobbies or stuff to do outside of work, it'll be hell if you get unemployed.

For some people, the hard part is the social stigma associated with not having a job. I don't personally see it that way, but I know there's a lot of shame and guilt involved, which makes having free time a challenge.

Fact is that 75% of USA citizens HATE there jobs and about 20% lied (imagine to admit to your self that you hate what your doing all day long for the past 20 years, you would get depressed). People liking there jobs are minority and a bit confused.
Would you like being at your job? Or making Holidays?
Do you like your JOB or you like making money? Would you make your lovely job for free?
Someone said "If this was your last day of your life, would you do the things your about to do?"
I don't buy the "I love my job" thing (there is a small exception as always). You do it because you have to do it!
Im not saying being unemployed is good, that's horrible. We need money, and the only way to make money is by exchange it with our most precious thing "time".

Do you realize that most people work there lives off just to enjoy 15 - 25 DAYS a YEAR? Some of you here think that this is life and your also encourage the rest to do the same.
You know that average age of death is 71 years old, in most country's you work till your 65.
What im saying is work less and live more and if they ask you to go to work next weekend for extra $$$ don't go, stay and enjoy your time (stop being afraid to be labeled as lazy).