Employee Camaraderie around Hating Work – What’s that about anyway?

Thank God It’s Friday.

I hate Mondays.

The weekend went by too fast.

Sarcastically, “Another day in paradise.”

I find it crazy that there is an inherent societal norm that bonds us together – to dislike or even hate work.  Pick out anybody, anywhere and you can say something disparaging about work, and they will nod in agreement and you have bonded over a common cause – over common suffering.

You’re supposed to dislike work.  We’re all supposed to agree that overall work sucks.  And that we’re all in this for a paycheck to enjoy our weekends and put food on the table for our families.  We suffer.  We are martyrs.  We are slaves to the system.

If you like your work, even dare I say, enjoy your work, you don’t get to play.  You’re not included in the “in-crowd,” the “normal” crowd of folks who dislike work.

Why do we do this?  Why do we choose to intentionally dislike what we spend most of our waking hours doing?  This is nuts.  Why do we trivially bond and connect over something so important in such a negative way?

Really, I don’t know why.  Do you?

David Firth would challenge us in his book From Making a Living to Creating a Life: How to be Happy and Successful by Utterly Transforming your Work to view work in the following way:

• “a playground or a laboratory for finding out what we are capable of when we combine our talents with others
• a mirror that empowers us to learn about ourselves
• an ongoing journey of adventure where change is an opportunity rather than a barrier or danger
• a channel for serving our families, our societies and the world
• a means of generating both material wealth and physical, psychological and spiritual growth and well being”

Enjoy the rest of your working day, and enjoy your weekend too.