Just some observation - not the first time I make it, but heavily reinforced again...

Came back from Malta yesterday, fourth time I visited there. It is interesting how happy people seem in that place, even the guy running the small ferry speed boat between Cikewwa and Comino island. I'm sure he's not making much money, the hours are long... same as a whole bunch of other people employed or very often self-employed in tourism or infrastructure services. I'd like to think that I've had enough "view behind the scenes" on that island to not just glorify the usual tourism-jobs that look good but in fact suck (a common mistake every tourist usually makes).

Yet I've rarely seen someone working there who's looking grumpy or as if having a bad day. I try to speak with as many of the locals as I can to learn more about the place, and they don't complain much, if at all.

The bus time table is accurate to maybe 10 minutes, if at all. Some stops the bus will be full and leave people standing. Okay, most everyone of the locals goes by car but the traffic is unreliable.

It doesn't matter. They don't seem to chase appointments by the precise minute. What a contrast to Vienna (and that is still a small city) where people will run trough subway stations trying to catch the next one leaving as if their life depends on it.

I just realized it was a week without any headaches, neck pains... which I've had more frequently since moving to my new team here in the office where the workload is so much higher than before. Okay, part of that may be not to sit in front of a PC for 8 hours a day. But part of that certainly is down to not being stressed out, to literally not have someone wring you by the neck for the last bit of performance or "emergency fixing"...

The whole experience leaves me wondering if "the west" has got off the wrong boat somewhere in how we are defining our lives and needs. I'm definitly going to take a different view of my job from today on. Maybe considering to ditch the representative but damn expensive apartment for a much cheaper place to live, to reduce weekly hours and run my own business ideas in the additional free time...

Anyone wants to share a similar experience? Seems sometimes we need to get away from the rat race to see it for what it is.

100% agree once you have some basic life security . Apart maybe to travel for those who like it, everything else that costs money can be reduced, spared at the benefit of a quieter and deeper life ...that means less work, less money, more free time to be filled with a humble but enjoyable life: Epicurism.
For instance, unless one can earn money in a heartbeat, one has to be a fool to buy a 50000 euros SUV when that represents month or years of income , aka numerous hard work days and troubles for most of us" upper/ middle" class people, just to look modern or wealthy...like thousands of other in big cities: the price is defintively too high.

Between Emerson and Thoreau one can find most of the answers.

My day job can be a bit like murder sometimes but helping getting a kid a C or above when predicted a U is a nice feeling. The sim job, even the support side of it is awesome and wouldn't change it for the world and I know I am very Lucky to have the work life I do.

Not having read them both I might

Kaa, interesting, I never heard of Epicurism but it matches quite a lot of other philosophies I've looked at.

I did this in the past, working four days a week, sharing a small apartment with the GF, still enough money to enjoy some consumerism and yet one day a week to fully focus on productive stuff I was doing for myself. Taxes being what they are, a quarter paycut of gross income isn't even so terrible when translated to net income.

The major downside is you end up with a lot less retirement and unemployed benefits - pretty much not enough to live on, because they are already lowish when you come from a 40h job.

The Mexican Fisherman
Author Unknown


The American investment banker was at the pier of a
small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with
just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.
The American complimented the Mexican on the quality
of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer
and catch more fish?"

The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the
processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

NH2112,

Excellent!

Why I love this place. I needed to read this thread before heading out to my grind. Thanks guys.

NH2112 very good indeed . And this story not only deals with one's private philosophy of life "for himself" but explains how our planet is destroyed and spoiled by a senseless reach for money.

You work in IT right Colonel? Stress and long hours is the nature of the beast with IT. I've been in the IT field for 15 years myself.

And this phenomenon of people stressing and revolving their lives around work isn't just a Western thing. Just ask the Japanese and South Koreans.

NH2112's story came to my mind also, good thing he had a more detailed version than what I could remember.

Tragedy of my life is that even though I knew such, I willingly threw myself into that hellhole. Looking forward to the day I'm no longer needed very much and I'll clamber out and establish the simple life I knew I'd be content with.

Not only could he do what he's already doing. He could also buy a Dodge Viper, a helicopter, a big ass speedboat, jetski's, travel around the world, see and do things most people can't. Totally worth the trouble. Average life is boring and sucks

Beautiful stuff. Emerson's essay "Nature", and the first chapter in Thoreau's "Walden", titled "Economy", are brilliant.

Simply your life, free yourself of possessions, and enjoy an original and thoughtful relation to God, nature, and the universe.

It's really quite lovely.

I need none of that for a happy and fullfilling life.

But then today at 40 I see a lot of things different than when I was 20.

Good counterpoint actually. I really like to race my motorbike. It's one of the more expensive hobbies (somewhere around the initial and running costs as a privat pilot license I would say) that you can have as a middle class employee. Sometimes it's hard to enjoy just the little things.

On the other hand I wonder if the "need" for "crazy adventure" (i.e. travel to exotic places, buy a helicopter) is a counter to the numbness of everyday feeling we generate from being so loaded at work. On vacation the small things always seem more meaningful and enjoyable, maybe because the mind isn't cluttered with other sensory overload.

Panzer, yes I'm still in IT - currently datacenter/networking stuff. I like some parts of the job very much... the diagnostic challenges, deductive logic needed to solve multi-dimensional problems... what I seriously dislike is being driven by the constant approach of other people who "forgot" to request some setup or prerequisite for their projects in due time, making their planning error my emergency to solve. Maybe for starters I ought to have a look at other IT Job models that would let me work more on my own shedule (coaching for example seems quite the jackpot if you can get a foot in).

Now the Ferry Guy at Malta also has a shedule to follow (roughly, not exactly down to minutes) but then he has a singular task. He's not constantly juggling to align five different "priorities" over and over inside an 8h day. Maybe this is a large part of the problem that you have in today's white-collar jobs - there is very often a very clear lack of focus on what is expected of you (sometimes it seems to me this is done on purpose, to make people work hard out of an inherent fear to fall below a non-defined standard of performance...)

Completely agree RSColonel and everything you mentioned as part of your experience in working in the IT field I have experienced as well. It seems to be universal.

Looking at RSColonel's last post, I think part of the issue is the work environment, and maybe not as much the work that's being done. No one likes to be kept in the dark about their job, or deal with things that are poorly managed, and that can add stress to a job that probably has its own stresses already.

Like anything else, whether that's worth it is up to each individual.

As sort of a corollary to Grizzly47's post, here are some of the things I think are advantages of working a harder job:

I am able to travel to visit my family more often, spending more time with my parents in their older years, of which I was reminded how important that was when my Father passed away.

I have been able to help other family members when needed, like giving them computers for school, helping pay some bills, covering some travel expenses, etc. I've done that for my family and my girlfriend's family.

I've been able to contribute more to charity, helping others who could never get a job that would cover their living expenses, help support the elderly, etc.

I've bought things that make my life more fun, like a Warhog HOTAS and a PC that can play the sims that I like, or a fun car to drive, that brings me enjoyment that I couldn't get any other way.

Plus, in paying for the travel, in buying the computers, and the other things I buy, I circulate money into the economy that helps other people earn a living.

On top of all that, there are the things that the work itself can accomplish. I do IT support work for a company that tries to find cures for diseases and ease suffering, and it's difficult and expensive work, and that adds a stress level of its own. If everyone had decided to just do a simple job, we wouldn't have the things we do that can save lives, ease suffering, provide fresh food, feed the starving, etc.

It certainly happens.

My philosophy is work however much you need to be happy. If you're one of those who's made happy by having more stuff, more power to you. I'm happy having a roof over my head, never having to worry about food, and having a little extra money to keep the pets healthy, put into my Jeep, or get something for a friend who can't afford it so we have something to do together. I have absolutely no desire to go to Florida, Cancun, the Caribbean, Hawaii, etc. Beaches bore me, for one thing, and why do I need that when I have the forest & mountains to explore right in my backyard? Beaches, too, just not tropical. I don't like the heat anyway. Now I'd like to see some places, but it's not so important to me that I'm gonna give up my free time now to earn the money to go. I don't have any problem living in a cheap rented apartment, driving an old vehicle that I paid cash for and will get rid of in 2 or 3 years, or watching DVDs on my old TV instead of spending an arm & a leg on "home theater."