If you’ll allow me, I’d just love to start a conversation about work, stress and well being. So few people I speak with can say they love what they do (which is perhaps not surprising), but the subject raises lots of questions and points of view. It would be good to hear personal experiences and your views – let’s get them up here and share a few thoughts!
Does money and materialism override job satisfaction and ones wellbeing? Well ok, lets put it this way… “does getting paid a load of money, truly make up for working in a really duff job or for a bunch of idiots (we’ve all worked for them)”. Is it possible to be unhappy at work but use the money for activities and deeds outside of work to provide happiness and well being?
Is happiness at work more important than happiness outside of work considering the amount of time we spend at work?
“Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” – Confucius.
Talking with colleagues, friends and family there seems to be a general desire to go back to a simpler way of life that is less stressful, slower paced, less materialistic and to live with a better community spirit. However, we are so surrounded by materialism, concerned with how we are perceived, bombarded by advertising images that tempt us into thinking we need something else to make us happy it’s hard to make that step and we fail to act until it’s too late. How many times have we heard of people working in jobs they hate, saving up for their retirement only to find they or their partner is too ill to enjoy it. My own father in law worked tirelessly only to pass away at the age of 61 before he could enjoy his retirement.
This is perhaps a subject we hear a lot about – morning TV, radio and magazines and I often get the feeling that people know they should look at life differently, but I guess when you swoop up the drive of your beautiful home in your new BMW that your high salary has paid for, it’s hard to even contemplate that you might just be happier, losing the stress, living in a small semi and driving home in a second hand Ford Focus. One thing’s for sure though and that’s that those who’ve been strong enough to address the issue are happier.
It’s a really difficult decision and I guess the first thing is to be introspective enough to see the problem but its taking those first steps.
Self exploration and life coaching can be really useful to help establish what’s really important for you and your family, to help define your goals and explore how to achieve them.
From my point of view, the first and most important thing is to recognise there is an issue, to talk about it and share the challenges and your dreams. I read that some companies are finding it difficult to promote staff because more and more are realising they don’t want the stress and would rather opt for a simpler, happier life.
Whilst thinking about this blog and the issue of peace of mind and stress, I recently came across this wonderful, thought provoking quote by the Dalai Lama XIV and which I felt put my thoughts into words – I do hope you feel you can comment.
“We feel money and power can bring happiness and solve problems, but they are not definite causes of those desired states. If that were so, it would follow, that those who have wealth would necessarily have happiness and those who do not have wealth would always experience suffering.
Money and power facilitate, but it is clear that they are not the primary causes of happiness and solving our problems. It is justified for us to make material and financial development for building our nation and providing shelter, etc. for ourselves; we need to do that. But we also need to seek inner development.
As we can see, there are many people who have wealth and power who remain unhappy, due to which their health declines, and they are always taking medicines. On the other hand, we find people who live like beggars but who always remain peaceful and happy.
Therefore, in our daily life a certain way of thinking makes us happy, and a certain way of thinking makes us unhappy. In other words, there are certain states of mind which bring us problems, and they can be removed; we need to make an effort in that direction. Likewise, there are certain states of mind that bring us peace and happiness, and we need to cultivate and enhance them”
– Dalai Lama XIV
