It seems that everyone I meet is always “hustling.” I myself was part of this hustle and bustle for many years. Life hasn’t changed much. I had thought that with all the new technological advances, people would have more time to spend on other pursuits. But, much of what I read in books and see in the news and even stories on Medium are about goal setting, working harder and longer hours, productivity, and achieving success.
Of course, to a certain extent, it’s good to set goals, work hard, be productive, and achieve as much success for yourself as you can. But, I’m just wondering if this is what is the reason for living. Or is there some nobler purpose? Was Anais Nin right when she said: “Good things happen to those who hustle.”
At the age of sixty-eight and with all the hustlin’ a thing of the past, I have a few thoughts on this. The Protestant Work Ethic still rules most of our lives, whether we are Protestant or not. Hard work and discipline are drilled into us as the cornerstone for our success and upward mobility early in life. Max Weber wrote in “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” about the importance of “vigorous discipline” and the selection of “vocation as a duty and virtue.” (valuesandcapitalism.com) For many of us, we know no other way of being. “Many people worry so much about managing their careers, but rarely spend half that much energy managing their lives. I want to make my life, not just my job, the best it can be. The rest will work itself out.” ~ Reese Witherspoon
Most of us have to work hard to make a living for ourselves and our families but we sense a nagging discontent deep within. There is little or no time for ourselves. Everywhere, there’s the cry that “I don’t have time.” What is it that people do not have time for? It’s certainly not about having more time to spend longer and longer hours at work. Maybe it’s about getting to know ourselves and being able to share all the other gifts we have with others. “Finding your passion isn’t just about careers and money. It’s about finding your authentic self. The one you’ve buried beneath other people’s needs.” ~ Kristin Hannah, Distant Shores
In my own working life, the Protestant work ethic (especially the hard work and discipline parts) and pleasing the boss were my weaknesses. I realized much later in my working life that my employers were just concerned about getting the job done. They didn’t care two hoots about my fulfillment or my needs. Those were things that I might have paid more attention to if I had known better. “Our higher needs include making full use of our gifts, finding and fulfilling our calling, being loved and cherished just for ourselves, and being in relationships that honor all of these. Such needs are fulfilled in an atmosphere of the five A’s by which love is shown: attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection, and allowing.” ~ David Richo
To find out “who we really are” and to “be ourselves” in the world is a lifelong task. It’s not an easy one. Many people are more than willing to tell us how to live, how to think, and how to feel. I don’t feel that just “hustlin” to make money is what this life is all about. I’m not against hard work or money. We need those things. What I do feel is that those are not the only things we should be pursuing in this time we’re given to live. Just as we learn slowly but surely how to set boundaries in other areas of our lives, it is imperative that we learn how to set boundaries at work. This will give us time for “being.”
Just as our fingerprints are one-of-a-kind, so is our identity. Each of us is a once-only articulation of what humans can be. We are rare, unmatched, mysterious. This is why the quality of openness is so crucial to our self-discovery. We cannot know ourselves by who we think we are, who others take us to be, or what our driver’s license may say. We are fields of potential, some now actualized, most not yet.” ~ David Richo
Previously published on Medium, March 26/2018