It’s 5:32AM. 

He’s lying in bed with his partner beside him. She’s sound asleep, breathing softly. Their eight-pound dog is curled atop his pillow, snoring as loud as a 100-pound rottweiler.

He’s tired but can’t sleep.

What’s the point? His alarm is set to go off in 28 minutes.

Still, he dreads getting up. He’s warm, comfortable. And the demands of the day await beyond the covers. Work awaits outside his bedroom door. 

Work—blah! That’s the last thing he wants to do today.

Not because he doesn’t like his job. In fact, he loves it.

He gets paid to write words, you see. (How cool is that?)

• He gets to be creative, think up neat ideas and bring them to life
• His colleagues are super talented and his boss is one of the best he’s ever had
• He even gets to help some really interesting clients solve some really interesting problems

On top of it all, he does it from the comfort of home.

So why is he lying in bed contemplating calling in sick? Why is he thinking about taking a personal day instead of doing what he must?

You work to survive 

Some claim if you don’t like your job, you’re not doing what you love. Or, if you do what you love, you never ‘work’ again. 

I’m calling bullshit.

Let’s face it, some days you just don’t want to. Just like some days your kids drive you crazy or your spouse gets on your last nerve. Just like some days you wish you didn’t have the responsibilities of adulthood.

Again, I love my job. But if I had the choice between working for eight hours, or say, going fishing with my buddies, I’d get that line wet every time.

And you know what?

I’m not going to feel guilty about that. More to the point, no one is going to make me feel guilty about that.

I understand the realities of life—we have to work to live. It’s always been that way, from the hunter-gatherer days to modern society, first world to third world.

Work, in all its forms, is how we survive. Simple as that.

But we don’t have to live to work.

Yes, it’s best if your survival is funded by doing something you truly enjoy. Especially since work-life balance doesn’t really exist. 

Still, to think you’re always going to wake up eager to get to work. That you’re always going to be happy doing it over and over and over again until you retire (or, more likely, until your mind and body fail). That’s fucking mental.

No one on their deathbed wishes they’d enjoyed working more than they enjoyed living.

And those who say otherwise, those who call you lazy or uninspired because you don’t always want to work. They’re fuelled by self-interest, only thinking about their gain, not yours. 

Keep your eyes on the prize

Rant aside, it’s important to have perspective.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a career you love. If you’re doing what you’ve always wished to do. Remind yourself to be thankful, because most don’t have that luxury.

And if you don’t have a job you love, be thankful for that, too. Imagine life without it—unemployment is a reality for a lot of people.

Point is, it’s easy to take for granted what we have once we have it. It’s easy to forget how lucky we are.

Yes, there will be times you’d rather do anything (literally anything) other than work. But this does offer fulfillment.

More tangible, this is what affords the essentials and the pleasures. It’s what pays the bills, puts gas in the tank, and keeps a roof over your head.

Don’t lose sight of that.

Remember to look back. Be grateful for what you have now and what it took to get it. Be grateful for the work.

Just don’t make your career your entire personality—don’t make it your life’s work.

There’s more to it than that.