By Dr. Don Dafoe
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Guess who said that? Hint: A famous Chinese philosopher who died in 479 B.C.
Confucius!
About 2,500 years later, Red Barber, a baseball broadcaster for the Yankees in their heyday, commented, “The problem with this job is you don’t know when you’re on vacation.”
We all should be so fortunate to toil happily in the vineyard.
Many people find their jobs burdensome; after all, that’s why it’s called “work.”
Neighborhood Spotlight
Park Cities
Where the Park Cities Stay Connected.
Some get so swept up in their jobs they forget to live full lives.
We all know people who are work-obsessed to the exclusion of everything else. They may be well-compensated, but they shortchange themselves on the enjoyment of life.
Some rare individuals — artists perhaps — can completely integrate their work and play. The problem being: art is a great lifestyle, but typically, the pay is poor.
The see-saw relationship between hard work and remuneration is well established; for example, loaf around too much and dire financial consequences will probably follow.
A break from the tedium of work is necessary to refresh the heart and mind.
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, in part, because he went on a family fishing holiday.
When he returned to his laboratory, the Scottish microbiologist found his bacterial cultures were contaminated with fungus. Normally, he might have cursed and thrown out the Petri dishes. Instead, because he had a refreshed brain, he noticed the clear zone around the fungi.
He is reported to have said, “That’s funny.” He deduced the mold had antibacterial properties, and the miraculous antibiotic was born.
A related phenomenon is the “aha” moment, whereby a mental breakthrough on an intransigent problem occurs while soaking in the bathtub.
Of course, the ideal work-life balance is different for every person.
Like Huskies who are happiest pulling a sled, some folks develop shpilkes (Yiddish for ants-in-the-pants) if they sit around doing nothing, like watching the sun set, for too long.
In contrast, I knew a young man who could lie on the living room carpet and contentedly play with his cat for hours. He would say he was an energy saver; I think he was a low batt.
Along these lines, I’ll mention a new term in our lexicon — quiet quitting. The term has a more acceptable ring to it than slacking off.
It’s possible that the slacker is simply refreshing his mind, and a great discovery is imminent, but I doubt it.
Dr. Don Dafoe, Highland Park, writes columns for fun. His day job: transplant surgeon.
