Doing a mind-drowning job you despise sounds like living an uncomfortable life, doesn’t it?
You see everyone including me praising a life of challenges and living uncomfortably.
Then isn’t this exactly what to do? Go to a low-paying job, work all day, and repeat it every day until you’re old enough to retire.
When all I do, is write about taking challenges, while not doing such a thing?
Am I not being a hypocrite then?
First of all, this is not to condemn those who work hard.
In a way, our societies would crumble without the hard-working mentality of people all around the world.
To mock them is far from my objective. It falls within the realm of cynicism, which I advise anyone to keep out of. If you still do, that’s your choice. And choices can always be revoked.
Doing this kind of work can be soul-crunching. But it also gives meaning to many people’s lives.
It lifts them out of property, lets them have a family, and live long happy lives.
As long as they don’t despise their work. But then it’s their attitude, not the work itself.
back to the question: Isn’t working hard the ultimate form of discomfort?
With this mindset, it isn’t. There is no reason why working hard can’t be comfortable. It can even be a prerequisite for spiritual growth. If you spend your time in angered pride, apathetic, grieved, and resentful, it helps to engage in hard work. It can be the place to focus your attention on, find integrity, and move ahead spiritually.
If working hard is a way forward, necessary for societal progress, and sometimes fulfilling, so it is to follow your meaning. For some, it’s working even more obsessed. Some engage in activities, that many don’t view as hard work: meditation, movement in nature, intense conversations, writing, or traveling.
In most cases, it involves letting go of societal expectations because following your passions means going your own unique ways and dedicating time and effort to its pursuit. You need to detach from the expectations of others, their thoughts and beliefs, which hold you back, and embrace new forms of thinking, expressing, and even finding silence.
All of this is a work in progress. You never arrive. Because you never arrive, you always move on, leaving behind what you think you know. Habits you’ve adopted to progress now hold you back. When you transcend them, you might not know where you are going, while changing your habits and mindsets will lead to doubts and condemnation.
The point of this all: Some of it is easy, especially if you follow your own heart. Some of it is hard, especially in the beginning, with a fixed mindset, or a need for validation.
But in any case, it means leaving the comfort of old ways behind. This can be welcomed or frightening. In hindsight, it’s most often a beautiful, necessary move. In actual motion, it’s often confusing.
But above all, it’s a meaningful, worthwhile process.
That’s why I urge you to plunge in, take a leap of faith, start to improve your life, adopt meditation, or whatever else it is that you crave within.
Have a wonderful day,
David