Is the purpose of life work or recreation?

Page 1 of 2 [ 32 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

underwater
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Sep 2015
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,904
Location: Hibernating

08 Apr 2017, 2:33 pm

It's a false dilemma. You need a little bit of both.

When working, ask yourself "who am I doing this for?"

There is a fault in the Protestant work ethic, it can really get people to act irrationally. Something similar appears in some Asian cultures.

You need to find out what works for you, not for everyone else. There is no general answer. Ask a tribesman in the Amazon jungle this question, and he'll probably look at you like you have two heads.


_________________
I sometimes leave conversations and return after a long time. I am sorry about it, but I need a lot of time to think about it when I am not sure how I feel.


RetroGamer87
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,970
Location: Adelaide, Australia

08 Apr 2017, 4:54 pm

Meistersinger wrote:
The purpose to life is to work hard 24x7x365 until you drop dead. You are not to take pleasure of any kind, nor any kind of remuneration. Once you drop dead you are expected to get back up, and start working hard again. Lather, rinse, repeat, for eternity.
I knew it!!


_________________
The days are long, but the years are short


Scorpius14
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 7 Sep 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 534
Location: wrong universe

09 Apr 2017, 10:41 pm

I don't see a future for me in a job, so all i've got is playing games, so there isn't much else to life really



mr_bigmouth_502
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Dec 2013
Age: 30
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 7,028
Location: Alberta, Canada

10 Apr 2017, 7:41 pm

Life is short and it has no real purpose, so you may as well try to enjoy it. If that means ditching work to have fun, go for it. If that means working hard, go for that instead. You could have a fatal brain anyeurism at any moment, so why waste time doing things you hate?


_________________
Every day is exactly the same...


aikoinazuma
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 12 Feb 2017
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 127

23 Apr 2017, 10:44 pm

Life is for recreation. Who would think that life is for work...some corporate whipcracker? Someone trying to guilt trip you? A lot of people think I'm a slacker because I refuse to be someone's doormat...like I need more drama and crap in life. I agree with some of the other posts; life is to be enjoyed, not endured. :mrgreen:


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 107 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 131 of 200
You seem to have both neurodiverse and neurotypical traits.


RetroGamer87
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,970
Location: Adelaide, Australia

25 Apr 2017, 4:33 am

Image

You've probably seen this lady in the news. She came to America and worked her ass off to become the vice president of Goldman Sachs.

I know I'm probably not focusing on the intended point. I know I'm probably supposed to be inspired and stuff.

But when I see stuff like this I think, "Why can't I have her drive?"

She probably does more work in a day then I do in a weak. Why am I so weak will compared to people like her?


_________________
The days are long, but the years are short


munenmusou
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 25 Apr 2017
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 9

25 Apr 2017, 2:13 pm

Ban-Dodger had a good point about keeping things in context.
For me that means understanding a few different things:

We live at a certain point in time.
Most of our customs have evolved only over the last few hundred years. They will change in the next few hundred years.
Humans are adaptable and versatile.

Find your own truth and try to live by that. Autistic people have an advantage in that since we usually have rich inner lives and aren't as easily swayed by social trends. Listen to your heart and focus on what actually matters to you. I've found that social media and the constant need for stimulation is too stressful and I'm learning to manage when I'm mindlessly hunting for a hit of 'new' to get me through the next few minutes.

The phrase work/life balance is used a lot but not observed very often. I choose to work to support the life that I want. By keeping that in balance I don't stress myself out about things that don't really matter to me.



RetroGamer87
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,970
Location: Adelaide, Australia

25 Apr 2017, 5:16 pm

munenmusou wrote:
Find your own truth and try to live by that.
I think I might have to. I used to believe that truth was based on facts and reality. Now it seems like the truth is a different thing for each individual. It's like each point of view contains it's own truth. So even two opposing ideologies can contain their own internally consistent truth.

Image


_________________
The days are long, but the years are short


Copelandia
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

Joined: 8 May 2017
Gender: Female
Posts: 69

08 May 2017, 2:18 pm

A bit of both!

But I love my job and made my hobby my job....



RetroGamer87
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,970
Location: Adelaide, Australia

08 May 2017, 5:46 pm

How?


_________________
The days are long, but the years are short


Canary
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Sep 2016
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 603
Location: Midwest

08 May 2017, 6:15 pm

I don't agree it's about either necessarily. Just having fun, watching TV, and relaxing doesn't tend to make people happy long-term the way things like friendships, family, or working on fulfilling projects does. Money can't be taken with you when you die, it's not worth as much as some people think. Ideally a job would be fulfilling and still fund recreation.



RetroGamer87
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,970
Location: Adelaide, Australia

09 May 2017, 7:07 am

I've been working 12 hour days + weekends. It's just for a few weeks. Maybe this will help me find my purpose in life. Hopefully it will mean my family stops calling me lazy!


_________________
The days are long, but the years are short


Alita
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 924
Location: Surrounded by water

11 May 2017, 9:51 am

RetroGamer87 wrote:
If I spend all my time having fun and building my career, is that wasting of life?

Or if I spend all my time at work and not having fun, is that wasting my life?

If recreation is the purpose of life than work is just a means to fund recreation.

If career is the purpose of life than recreation is just a means to rest so I can work more effectively.

Which of those is true?


This is one for the ages. :D

I always find the same problem: I need money to fund my leisure activities, e.g. going to the gym. So I get a job. The job then leaves no time for the leisure activity, i.e. I end up paying for a gym membership I never use.

And on and on it goes.


_________________
"There once was a little molecule who dreamed of being part of the crest of a great wave..."
(From the story 'The Little Molecule' - Amazon Kindle, 2013)


Alita
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Oct 2013
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 924
Location: Surrounded by water

11 May 2017, 9:56 am

Meistersinger wrote:
The purpose to life is to work hard 24x7x365 until you drop dead. You are not to take pleasure of any kind, nor any kind of remuneration. Once you drop dead you are expected to get back up, and start working hard again. Lather, rinse, repeat, for eternity.


Thanks a lot. Now I won't be able to get that Phoebe song from Friends out of my head. :lol:


_________________
"There once was a little molecule who dreamed of being part of the crest of a great wave..."
(From the story 'The Little Molecule' - Amazon Kindle, 2013)


BetwixtBetween
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Feb 2014
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,543
Location: Mostly in my head

11 May 2017, 10:30 am

The purpose of life is to leave the world a better place than when you entered it, however you can. Even if you can only do that in your small part of it. That's what I believe anyway. Whether you accomplish that by work/recreation or some combination of the two, is partly up to you and partly up to the world. The important thing is that you never give up.



RetroGamer87
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,970
Location: Adelaide, Australia

13 May 2017, 9:09 am

Alita wrote:
Meistersinger wrote:
The purpose to life is to work hard 24x7x365 until you drop dead. You are not to take pleasure of any kind, nor any kind of remuneration. Once you drop dead you are expected to get back up, and start working hard again. Lather, rinse, repeat, for eternity.
Thanks a lot. Now I won't be able to get that Phoebe song from Friends out of my head. :lol:
Which song?


_________________
The days are long, but the years are short