Living to Work/Working to Live - The Good Life?

There seems to be so much entangled in this (not so) simple re-statement of 3 words. With the constant drone about jobs (or lack thereof) and employment rates (or lack thereof) and hope for eminent resolution (or lack... I think you see where I am going with this), it is easy to see why so many conversations happen around how important work is to life. We live in a consumerized society and as much as this time is forcing many to go back to basics and re-evaluate what is really important in life, we haven't turned up with anything new.

Living a life filled with loving relationships matters, but we knew that.
Enjoying life's little moments  is important, but we knew that too.
Making yourself and others feel fulfilled is all we need, and yet another thing we already knew.
Great, we know what matters- but even Maslow will tell you that you need your basics covered before you can start thinking about that.

And unfortunately, contrary to every love song ever written, love is not all you need. Love doesn't pay the bills, love doesn't keep the lights on, love doesn't put food on the table. Sure, love makes everything worth having, but when you spend so much time just figuring out how you are going to afford to have anything, even only the most basic anything, love and life take a back seat. Even life goals related to work take a back seat to work. As much as we don't want to make life all about the "almighty dollar," it seems as though we have little choice.

I am very fortunate to have been put in a situation where I am able to work in both a positon and an industry I am not only prepared for, but willing to work in and within 2 years of graduation. And believe me I KNOW how lucky I am. Yes, I worked hard and made the most out of opportunities afforded to me, but I know that there are fellow young adults out there that have worked just as hard and have yet to even BEGIN to think of working in a career they prepared for,  all while dream careers are being filed next to "super hero" and "princess" in the "not gonna work out as a full time career" drawer.

So this all brings me to the ultimate question- do we work to live and do just what we need to do to get by and enjoy the genuinely good things in life along the way. Or, do we live to work and continuously try to progress ourselves and the system with the hopes that one day life will allow us to enjoy those genuinely good things? And worse yet, does the work always get in the way of life? Does it have to?

I don't know.

The best conclusion I can come to is a story that was shared with me by one of my business professors my senior year of school: More Than Money - What is "The Good Life" Parable. (And if you are more musically inclined, Kenny does a pretty good job of telling a similar story in the soothingly melodious way only he can: Kenny Chesney - The Life.) The story completely stirs up more questions than it answers, but sometimes the problem is solved by simply getting yourself to ask the right questions.

*NOTE: I do not own nor claim to own the rights to the video content. All original authors are respected and appreciated for their contributions. They made the point first, I just happen to agree.

fools rush in

Yeah it's a stupid saying and an Elvis song.  But it's true, fools do rush in.  They throw themselves at situations with everything that they have, hoping it's going to work.  They know that it's never worked for anyone else before, but it's different, it's not THEM.  They have something no one else before them did and FOR SURE this time, it will work. They ignore all the nay-sayers, all the logic, all the facts that place obstacles before them and they rush harder than even the best defensive lineman.  But what else are they supposed to do?  They don't know any better, thats why they are fools after all.

Or maybe they aren't fools at all, maybe they are quite the opposite- they have seen logic fail, reason come up short, and life become nothing more than an hollow shell with what could be filled with love and happiness.  Maybe these fools have learned the hard way that it doesn't always work out the way that its supposed to, that the puzzle pieces might all be there, but something isn't quite right.  Is it really that persons fault for trying something different?  Can we really call them a fool?

Photo Credit:
http://www.howtogetexback.org/
free-online-reports/how-do-you-mend-a-broken-heart

I've made mistakes when it comes to relationships- I've played it too cool, too hott, too them, too me, too... the point is, it was always too something.  So maybe I am a fool, but at least I can say that I never gave anything less than my all.  I rushed in full force, ready to try to give love to whomever was willing to give love to me.  And maybe it was because I was blinded by the idea of love- so desperate to have that support, that one solid thing in my life that I feel like I have been lacking.  Maybe that stability I could find in a person that loved me the way I not only wanted, but needed to be loved.  And sure, I have not uncovered the secrets to success in  a relationship, I'm not even a little close, like not even in the right galaxy.  But what I have done is learned from these mistakes.  I am getting closer to knowing what is going on, and maybe some day I will have it fully figured out.

Stay tuned.

Until then, I'll share what I have learned:

1. Friends, family, lovers each love you in their own, unique way.
2. That unique way reflects how they need to be loved in return.
3. Each relationship formed happens in that perfect storm of their need, your need, and what can happen in the current situation. 
4. Every relationship- no matter how long or short, how intense or mundane, how amazing or terrible- every one matters and should be treasured for what it provided to you.

I am thankful to have had the fulfilling relationships that I did.  And I am glad I got to learn from the crappy ones (even if i spent far too much time and energy crying over them).  And someday I know that I will have nothing but fulfilling relationships.  But until then, I am just going to keep rushing in.