All work and no play.

"What is the meaning of life?" What is your answer to the age old question? Now, before you roll your eyes back for a closer inspection of your brain, give me a moment. This is simply asking some questions about our everyday lives and the way in which we live them.

Personally, I want my life to be fulfilling. I want to smile and be happy and do the things that make me happy 24/7. But how easy is it to achieve this simple idea in the current day and age? Lets look at the average week in our lives. The majority of us spend a third of a week at work which we don't enjoy, the second third sleeping which is a necessity and the final third we have to ourselves to do as we please. Now, reduce this final third to a fifth or 20%, if you will, as we are still driving, shopping, mowing, cooking, cleaning and all the other chores that we all have to do and that leaves us with 20% of enjoyment time. Think about it. How often are you happy or enjoying yourselves? 

So that's it? 20%? I'm not sure about you but that seems a little wrong to me. I want... no, no... I DEMAND more enjoyment time! But where do we find this extra time? I know that we all require different amounts of sleep. Take my wife for example. She has single handedly turned sleeping into an Olympic sport and she is the world record holder. The point is that we all need to sleep and this cannot be changed. Chores are chores, they rank right up there with death and taxes and unless you're at at the very top of the food chain you will need to do most these yourself. So that leaves us to explore our work.

Do you enjoy your work? Do you enjoy the people you work with? Does your job and your daily achievements better the human race in anyway? Are you happy with your salary? Do you wake up excited for work? Are you still smiling driving home from work? If the answer is "yes" to all then you are either one of the select 0.001% of the human race or you simply took one too many of your prescribed medication this morning. I reckon you could be satisfied if you said "yes" to half of the questions. Unfortunately, the most common answer to these questions is a resounding "no"! We could all think of better places to be and things to be doing but, alas, we have to work. We don't have a choice. The costs involved with being alive are ever present. 

"Do what you love" I hear you say and I couldn't agree with you more. Personally, I love animals and would love to work with animals, wild or domestic. I also love playing the guitar and would love to earn a salary writing music but a gifted Muso I am not. Neither, for that matter, will I ever be sharp enough to be a vet or famous wildlife filmmaker. Have you ever asked the average game ranger what they earn? Most people working for animal rescue places rely on donations to survive and often don't earn a salary and have to hold down a second job to pay their bills. I would love to work at the SPCA. I would find it immensely rewarding and would go home every day convinced that I have done some good. But the truth is, I simply cant afford to. Its sad that the people who work so selflessly to better mankind, wildlife and the planet are rewarded the least.

The world is moving quicker and its also getting smaller. Technology is rapidly improving every day. We can have face to face meetings with people across the world via our handheld device while we ride the bus from one meeting to another. Can you remember that twenty years ago the first cellular phone came out? Wow! How did we survive back then? You made calls on your land line and if the person was not there you left a message on a piece of paper and simply waited for them to return. Nowadays, if someone does not answer their cell phone, which is generally considered unacceptable, they are expected to get your voice mail and reply within the hour. We have to work longer hours so that our company can release a product sooner than our competitors. Nevermind if it does not work. Quality is out the window. Just get it out there first. Overtime is the norm. 

I don't know how our parents did it. Everyone had a house, two children, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a goldfish, of course. All of this while one of them stayed at home! Nowadays, only CEO's and your top managers can achieve this type of lifestyle. I haven't had children of my own yet but judging by how much my wife and I work, there would be very little time in our lives to watch them grow up.

While we marvel at the achievements of the human race have we forgotten to be human? Is 20% enough? How can we change it? Can the world move to a four day working week? How about we all go to work at 8am and then all get up and leave at 1pm? They cant fire the whole world can they? Go to http://www.2oceansvibe.com/ to see how seriously some people are pushing for no work on Friday afternoons. (What a great idea!)

We seem to be working more and more as every year goes by. If the average person lives 80 years and you apply the 20% rule, that leaves you with 16 years of your life to do what YOU want to do. Why not simply work as a waiter some evenings as you leave school to earn enough money to pay for cheap rent and food and party the rest away. 16 years later you would be 34 and you would have had your allotted fun time. Any extra is simply a bonus. Seriously, I know a guy who is 43 and still doing this! He's enjoyed almost every single day of his life so far and is quite aware, and happy, with the fact that he probably wont make it to old age.

Unfortunately this rant doesn't offer many solutions but simply asks that you look at yourself, your life and the way you work and ask yourself "What is important to me?" There's no right or wrong answer.