Like most of you, I work to live and not live to work. Even so, I am not happy working 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. I do work in the hotel industry, where there are no weekends, bank holidays, or fixed hours. It could very well be my job, but most of my friends and family are in the same boat: they go to work because they have to pay bills, rather than because they want to.
There is a nice quote, “choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life”. While that is a great message, I believe it is far easier said than done. When I was in college, I had a few websites where I was writing about things I loved: fitness & travel. Through Adsense and other advertising platforms, I was making a solid income where I could pay my rent and have spending money. That’s the closest I came to fulfilling the message behind that quote.
Unfortunately I let go of that ‘hobby’ of mine and turned into a regular 40+ hours a week working man. Nothing wrong with that. I am not lazy, for I’ve worked and sustained myself for most of my life. I don’t hate my job, I like working in hotels. And with my salary my girlfriend can stay at home and look after our little son. I make enough money to support us all, pay our bills, and have some to put into savings. I like that financial security, but I just hate wasting my time working.
Maybe since I became a father it really hit me. Time is the most valuable (and really the only) thing we have and the way we choose to spend it on a daily basis and with whom is so important. I hate trading my time for money. It’s a vicious circle isn’t it? Working equals money but it takes up the time that you could spend doing things, yet for those things you need money.
I’ve looked up anarcho-capitalism and the definition says, ‘philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favor of individual sovereignty in a free market’ (Wikipedia). Unfortunately it’s one of those things that I can read about for hours and it doesn’t make sense to me. Am I anarcho-capitalist or not, I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter. I’m just struggling with the situation I’m in...with the way society runs. The work to live premise seems to be more of a live to work after all.
Any thoughts and suggestions would be highly appreciated.
All the best til next time!