Enjoyment vs. Hard Work

The subject of enjoyment and personal happiness sometimes conflicts with moral, religious, or ethical imperatives. Those who seek only enjoyment, it is said, follow a philosophy of “Do always what thou wilt,” which ultimately leads to nihilism and social chaos. The contrast between happiness seekers and being a good member of society is illustrated in the children’s tale of the ant and the grasshopper. The grasshopper is a pleasure seeker who has fun in the summer but never prepares for the cold weather like the ant, who buckles down every day and gets to work. When winter comes the grasshopper has no warm shelter and no food, so he has to mooch off the hardworking ant. The lesson is that the deadbeat – the grasshopper only concerned with his own pleasure – cannot survive in the world.

The way this lesson is framed is skewed. The person seeking enjoyment is portrayed as a social parasite, whereas the hardworking ant is properly serious about his life.

But enjoyment and hard work are not polar opposites.

No matter how strange someone else's behavior seems, the fundamental reason for doing anything is the enjoyment of it. The enjoyment of something is the only justification necessary for doing it.

Suppose cousin Joe decides to quit his well paying job and invest his life savings in a restaurant. He is bored with his job, even though he is quite successful. He wants to do something new and exciting. Joe has absolutely no experience in the restaurant business. It is clear to you that his ideas and visions for the restaurant will never work out. It is clear that his enthusiasm will never overcome his bad business sense. It's also clear to you that Joe has always been the type to launch into something quickly, then get discouraged when immediate results are not forthcoming.

You can see that Joe's restaurant idea is a recipe for disaster.

Yet for Joe, the whole idea is a big adventure which he plunges into with eagerness. His enthusiasm and hard (but joyful) work manages to overcome his abysmal business decisions, and the restaurant stays afloat. You look at Joe and can't figure out why he would trade a successful job, where he had plenty of free time and money, to one in which he works 7 days a week and barely breaks even.

The answer is, enjoyment. Joe loves being his own boss. He loves dealing with customers. He loves the idea of providing great food and good atmosphere to enjoy it in. For him, working 7 days a week isn't work at all, but fun.

It makes no sense to you, and it even seems wrong to you.

Joe has no time for his family anymore. He spends literally every waking hour at his restaurant.

You can see that his marriage is going down the tubes.

But Joe is happy, happier than he has ever been in his life.

Are Joe's actions wrong? Would it have been better for him to stay in his boring job and keep his marriage intact? Joe has 3 kids after all, what is to become of them? Is it right for Joe to change his life so that he is happy all of the time in his new work, even though others may seem to be adversely affected?

The answer is, I think, that there is nothing we can do about it. If Joe is happy, he will continue to do those things that make him happy (unless, of course, he is more concerned with the opinions of others than his own happiness). Are we to tell Joe he must sell his restaurant and find some other, less enjoyable work so that he can spend more time with his family? That may make the rest of us feel good, but what about Joe?

The difficulty with this approach is that Joe's actions are judged by some societal, ethical, moral, or religious standard of conduct that seems appropriate to the majority. Joe doesn't care a whit about what others think. He has learned to trust his inner guidance.

No matter how strange someone else's behavior seems, the fundamental reason for doing anything is the enjoyment of it. The enjoyment of something is the only justification necessary for doing it.

There is a big difference between genuine enjoyment and the deadbeat who does nothing and demands others support them. Is the deadbeat happy? Does the deadbeat enjoy their life? Well, I have known a few deadbeats in my time and I can say with certainty that the answer is no.

There is also a big difference between genuine enjoyment and those who “enjoy” wielding power over others. During the pandemic many of us experienced demands by petty bureaucrats rigidly enforcing unscientific lockdowns and forced vaccinations for a flu-like virus. Trying to talk sense to these people is a pointless activity, for they are immersed in their narratives and will not accept evidence outside their rigid dogmas.

Does anyone think that such persons experience genuine enjoyment? Not a chance. True enjoyment is an open, honest, transparent feeling of well being that transmits a vibration of inclusion, harmony, and cheerfulness to others.

During the pandemic I learned to quietly comply without making scenes and disturbing others. There is a certain amount of joy in doing this, for one has respect for others even when one disagrees with their actions. Walking into a store that rigidly enforces mask wearing without a mask may create hostility. That is counter-productive in a polarized society, and I don’t want to add my bit to the negative vibes (there are much better ways to object). So one wears a mask, understanding that the absurdity of wearing it to prevent viral spread is pseudo-scientific nonsense. There is a certain enjoyment that comes with maintaining social harmony while understanding the real purpose behind these social strictures.

And if it gets too bad, well, then non-violent non-compliance is called for.

You can't possibly do any harm when you're truly having fun, because the actions taken are all from an attitude of light-heartedness. It is easy to see whether a person is motivated by open enjoyment or by the grim control mentality behind the inflexible enforcement of dictatorial policies. When policies are enforced instead of promoting open and voluntary compliance based on actual science, problems result. Now we have conflict, and social unrest, and people aren’t happy.

You can't possibly hurt another by staying joyful. It's only when you get off the path of enjoyment that problems arise.

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