POLL: Did/Do you Work to Live or Live to Work ? (tax, compensation)
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If my occupation is meeting my needs, though I may not particularly enjoy it, I work to live.
If I am sticking with a job because I enjoy what I'm doing, even though it does not meet my needs, I live to work.
Maybe people ask "so what do you do for a living?" as a way to find common grounds and start a conversation. It is why I ask people that.
I voted for work to live.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MG120
Invariably, one of the first things an American will ask someone else is, what do you do for a living? Not sure if that is driven by a need to "rank" people, or if we are trying to see where they fit in the socioeconomic scale in comparison to ourselves.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the original intent of the poll, but I interpret the phrase "live to work" as meaning "being a workaholic".
On the other hand, I suppose it could also mean that a person loves what they do for a living SO much that they look forward to each workday because the job/occupation/careeer/business/whatever is something that they really enjoy. But I've never known anyone who was that lucky, LOL
Think about it: How many people do you know who say (or said) "I really love my work"??
Well, I know one that truly did love their work. Me.
OTOH, I had other interests so retirement wasn't that difficult.
I loved my work and what I did so much that I felt grateful for most of the 30 something years that I could do what I did and get paid too. So I voted lived to work, not reading it as a workaholic but someone who loves their calling and does it.
Will say that the last year management became so top down directive and standardized that I decided it wasn't fun anymore and I retired.
And am happy to be retired. It was time to find a new life to love.
My dad was a workaholic midwestern who instilled his values in my two brothers and me. I spent years in college obtaining a master's degree to have a career that I find interesting and fulfilling. Also did not get married or have children so my career is my main focus so I live to work. But the job is also stressful, demanding, and can involve long hours and travel, and not to glamorous places. I'm getting burnt out after 29 years and looking forward to retirement.
Maybe people ask "so what do you do for a living?" as a way to find common grounds and start a conversation. It is why I ask people that.
I voted for work to live.
Such a large part of our identity, albeit not all if it, is tied to our job or profession. Therefore, it is normal and natural to want to know that piece of information about a person as a part of knowing that person. For sure, it isn't the be-all and end-all of knowing someone else, but it is right up there with such things as married/single, kids/no kids, outside interests, and maybe a couple of other things that we would rate as important parts of who we are.
I loved my work and what I did so much that I felt grateful for most of the 30 something years that I could do what I did and get paid too. So I voted lived to work, not reading it as a workaholic but someone who loves their calling and does it.
<snip>
And am happy to be retired. It was time to find a new life to love.
That exactly expresses my experiences and feelings about work and retirement, and DH's, and a number of other people we know.
It's not that hard to find people who enjoyed working and enjoy retirement. It's true more often of persons in professional occupations but I've known paraprofessionals, blue-collar, and service workers who feel the same. The happiest couple I ever knew was a husband who was a manual laborer and a welder, and his wife who was a waitress and a restaurant hostess. They both radiated joy throughout their long lives. After they retired, she loved to tell stories about the many famous people she met in the restaurant, and he worked for free on welding projects and art well into his 90s.
I had to work to support my family, didn't have any options there. Sometimes I didn't particularly care for my jobs, and work felt like a burden. However, most times I enjoyed my job, had a good sense of achievement and making a contribution, and enjoyed my coworkers.
So I generally had a positive work experience, though I wasn't really a workaholic (except when necessary for limited periods of time).
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the original intent of the poll, but I interpret the phrase "live to work" as meaning "being a workaholic".
On the other hand, I suppose it could also mean that a person loves what they do for a living SO much that they look forward to each workday because the job/occupation/careeer/business/whatever is something that they really enjoy. But I've never known anyone who was that lucky, LOL
Think about it: How many people do you know who say (or said) "I really love my work"??
I knew two who "lived to work". They even worked when they were on vacation and sent constant emails to various team members asking about our projects as they felt left out.
One worked in the evenings and even on weekends.
He told me he had no outside interests at all and work was all he had to "keep busy".
He didn't plan to ever retire.
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