Don't DIE for your employer

Because it would go unnoticed and largely unappreciated. Seriously.

I do not know about small companies but when it comes to large corporations, all of its employees are dispensable. Any one of them can drop off from the face of the earth and the company will just rehire a new person as replacement. No tears, no regrets, nothing. Okay, maybe a wreath at your funeral but that is about it.

The people who will miss you most, mourn for you and basically feel like crap when you are gone are your family and close friends. To them, you are indispensable and nobody could ever replace you. You could be someone's mother, sister, daughter, wife, best friend, father, brother, son, husband or soul mate. To them, you matter a lot. Your lives are intertwined and you depended on each other in all of your lives. To them, losing you is like losing a large part of their lives, leaving a void that only time could heal.

So, then. why do so many people work till late hours every day, stay fiercely loyal to their employers and practically spent more time in the office rather than at home with their loved ones?

This is one question that really beats me. It is something I find hard to understand. Admittedly, money is something everyone needs in this material world but do we really need that much?

Will working to death to buy a palatial house be worth it if you hardly have time to enjoy the house with your family? Will tonnes of money in the bank be worth it if you neglected your family and friends to the point that you have none left and you end up spending your retirement days sitting alone in a huge empty house? Will becoming the company vice president through long working hours be worth it if it means you don't get to see the birth of your first child, participate in his activities, watch him grow and finally did not even get to know your own child?

Will working to the bone for a company be worth it at all if you were to fall dead one day without going on the tour around Europe vacation you promised your family/partner or fulfilling your lifelong dream of becoming an artist or fulfilling any of your promises of 'maybe next time when I am free' to your family / friends? Would it be worth it at all to actually die after spending most of your life at work and none of it actually enjoying life with your family and friends?

Well, I think it is really not worth it at all! No money in this world could buy the simple pleasure of watching your firstborn learn his first words or the wonderful moments you spent with your loved ones or just appreciating nature with your loved ones. Nothing is more precious that your family and friends.

So, why does work always take precedence? Why do people keep saying 'I have work. Maybe tomorrow'and the tomorrow never comes?

Sure, we all have commitments, mortgages to pay, bills to settle, debts to clear. A steady income is imperative for us to survive but it does not mean we have to put 90% of our time in it.
That is why,one of my favorite saying is always: Work is just a means to an end, not an end to the means.

It is with this reasoning that I am now working hard (I know it sounds contradictory to this whole post but read on...) so that I could quit my day job and spend more time with my son at home.

I am admittedly putting more hours into my own freelance work at night, which is taking up most of my spare time, but it is with the goal of quitting my day job to stay home. I, too, have bills to pay, but I am not making work a priority in my life. My priority is my family. And perhaps spiritual development. I intend to quit my day job soon and this would mean more time to my family and less time at the office.

So, to all the workaholics out there, do stop and think about the time you spent at the office. Is it worth it in the end? The best way to think if it is worth it, imagine you were told you have only two more hours to live. What were your first few regrets about things you don't get to do? I can bet that it is not about the report that was supposed to be due tomorrow!

Life is fragile. We all know we will die one day so make wise decisions now so that you will not regret it later. Go out and Dream, Discover and Explore!