We all work for a living but is your work allowing you to live?

A typical day in NY City, Toronto, China, Mumbai or Delhi.

What do we see? Most office-goers are getting themselves and their family ready for the work day. Rushing to catch the train, the metro or drive by car, working on a project, a job, a title, rushing home, cooking dinner or ordering take-outs, playing with the children if they have the time, tending to everyday things and phew, finally falling asleep!

We spend close to 8 X 300 = 2400 hours per year working for a living. Maybe less, maybe more!

Now imagine if you have been working for 10 years, that is 240,000, and for 20 years 480,000 hours.

Wow!

How do you feel about the way in which you have spent these hours?

The best indicator to see how you feel about work is the walk back home from office. Do you feel tired, dejected, fed up or is there a sense of purpose or happiness in what you accomplished today at work?

If you are happy, great! If not, what a burdened life you are leading!

This feeling is slowly rippling and making its way into other areas of your life from having little time for family or friends, to a generic lack of purpose in life etc. The severity of course varies person to person depending on other life choices they made alongside work.

What is living?

Living is not a job; it is breathing, it is being alive, it is awareness of all there is, it is a sense of purpose, a sense of wellbeing and joy.

If your job allows for this, do it by all means; if not, at least examine different options.