Labor_of_Love

BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE because there is always someone out there that has it worst than you. Every day we complain about our jobs whereas in Tai Shan’s the laborers haul heavy rocks for construction. “Across their backs they placed bamboo poles, and at either end were massive stones, the material for the luxury building under construction. The workers sprinted the 6,600 steps up the mountainside to earn their wages. Because they were shirtless, I saw what seemed to me to be port-wine stains across their shoulders. No, they weren’t birthmarks or tattoos; they were bone-deep bruises”. (P.101) I mean could you imagine this is heart breaking. Do these people work for the love of the work' No, not at all. They are working in order to be able to feed their family. Confucius said “Choose a Job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. Whereas this comment is true but in reality it merely comes into play because “we all trade sweat for food and shelter, we are in no position to choose our job, we should feel lucky just to have a job.” In this world we live in, it is a lot of competition everywhere and if you are not the best at what you do, even if that’s your dream job, you will still not be happy. MUTUAL RESPECT IN THE WORKPLACE is the most important thing needed in every workplace. We are all equal; the only difference is our capabilities. Just because someone has a higher position than another person that doesn’t mean he or she have the right to disrespect that person and treat them unfairly. And managers wonder why they have to fire people on a daily basis; it’s not because those people don’t know what they’re doing it is simply because of the way they are being treated. “When people aren’t treated fairly, they are resentful; and when there is a lack of clarity there is often a sense of unease. Neither condition is conductive to a state of happiness.” (P.102) We as humans tend to have this egoistic attitude where we think just because we are better at something than the next person we have the right to disrespect that person. When I use to work at Forever 21 I remember my manager use to always take advantage of me. She made working there harder than it had to be. I don’t know why she acts this way' I always use to think she act like that because of her title as manager. When I met her outside of work she was the nicest person ever. I guess she felt as though because she is a manager she had to act a certain way. TOO MUCH IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD… When my father passed away, my mother worked two jobs. She worked more than eighty-hours a week. I was only a toddler at the time and I could still remember because she only came home on weekends for a few hours and went back to work. Joshua and Raili are lucky; unlike them we are not able to live off something we grow in our backyards. I know if my mother had a choice she would choose to be with her family and raise her children. But if she does that, where is our next meal going to come from' What are we going to wear' Where are we going to live' I know to Joshua and Raili those are considered luxury things, but to us it really isn’t. I’m not saying we will die without a car but in modern day society it is a way for us to survive. I mean Joshua and Raili live near their family and it is walking distance for them, whereas we have family scattered everywhere around the state, which is not walking distance. Everything is too far for us to walk to. “And unlike those who are employed by others, they are responsible for themselves. Not that success is all in their hand. Chance play its part, as it does in everyone’s life. No one told Joshua what to carve, which color stone to use or how many pieces to make. He could follow the dictates of foreign taste if he chose; he could make whatever his heart desire.” (P.103-104) In the United States we all have someone on top of us. We are not responsible for ourselves. We are being told what to do and when to do it all the time. I know humans have rights. But realistically we are being control by the government like little puppets. BLINDED BY GOLD… “What should I do with my life' How do people choose their lifework' What is a vocation' Do I have a calling' What values do I want to work to foster' Why do we work anyway' What is the meaning of work' When I do pose these questions in class, the students say they want love and family. In reality, though, what they pursue is material success. They are ambitious not for a good life but for the high life, a life filled with goods but not goodness”. (P.104) I am a very ambitious person for a good life but to me a good life is a high life. It is one thing for someone who has not been in poverty to not want to pursue a high life. For instance a lot of rich white people know how to use their money, unlike rich black people who spend their money on the newest cars and clothes. In this society there is no such thing as goodness anymore, a lot of people that’s on top had to do some bad things to get there. “They have little awareness of the relationship between the kind of work you do and your attitude toward that work, and the extent to which you will be happy with your life”. (P.105) My brother worked so hard for two years just to buy a Bentley, but when he did get the car he got sick. We put so much effort to work so we can afford materialistic things and not take care of ourselves. Everyday some new technology come out, do we have to have a Mac Book' No, but there’s something about it that is better than the PC. Basically I guess what I am trying to say is that majority of us will give up time, relationships, and even integrity, to achieve material success because that’s the only way we could get accepted and respected in society. When we are accepted by society, we are happy. Money equals happiness right' JUST DO IT… “The lesson: don’t brood about setbacks; just get on with your life. Whiners are losers. It doesn’t matter why the cheese was moved or who moved it. Move on yourself. And don’t think about whether you really want cheese or that perhaps there are other things that may bring you greater happiness. You’ll never be happy if you analyze everything; thinking makes you malcontent who deserve to fail” (P.107-108). This statement bring back so much memories because I remember my junior year I receive a 95 on a paper and I went to my counselor and cried. Asking myself why didn’t I get a hundred' I am the biggest whiner ever and I analyze everything and I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing because if we go about life carelessly we will continuously make the same mistakes and therefore we will never get far in life. “Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them” (P.109) Everyone has a different meaning to happiness and their ways of pursuing it just like everyone has a specific religion and beliefs. As to a response to the letter, he or she shouldn’t feel guilty for spending time with their husband. Since your husband is working a good amount of hours a week why should you work so many hours'