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Joe90
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16 Mar 2013, 3:03 pm

I seem to be caught up in a depressed state of mind where I really don't want to work. It's not because I'm lazy and just want to scrounge off the government. It's because the thought of HAVING to be somewhere for the rest of my life, week in week out, and not even getting a retirement at the end of it (because by the time I get to 60 the retirement age will most probably have moved up to about 99), it all just really depresses me. Plus I think I'm too weird to work, I know everyone at work thinks I'm weird and I don't like being forced to be with people who think I'm weird, however nice they are. I know they think I'm weird because I have said things in odd ways before and I give off this weird vibe anyway.

I just wish I could just win the lottery and give up work completely, buy myself a nice little house away from other people, and just do some voluntary work near by, and maybe find myself a nice man who also is rather solitary, and just keep my life simple and easy without being under pressure by anyone. That's what I want.

OK, I know this is everyone's dream really, I'm sure over half of the population would rather not have to work at all, and I am not a workaholic like some people are, so if I had the opportunity I would leave work forever and not even hand in my notice. I know this sounds very depressing but God help me I wish I could live a simple life. I wish I was rich. Anyone else wish so hard that you didn't have to work?


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Ann2011
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16 Mar 2013, 3:35 pm

I want to work, but not too many hours. I like to make money if I can rather than rely on benefits. But work always feels like a foreign environment to me. School used to feel the same way. Even things that should be positive (like going to a movie I want to see) cause me stress.

I know what you mean about people thinking that you're weird. I know I'm viewed as a strange egg by people I deal with. Try not to think of it as a big weight over time though. You probably won't be at the same place you are now for your whole life. There may be jobs where you fit in better.

Full time would be too much, but nothing would be bad too, for me. Even though it's depressing to spend time with others, it's better than total isolation.



starkid
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16 Mar 2013, 4:13 pm

I know just how you feel. I hate having to be someplace at a certain time. It feels totally unnatural, and that makes it stressful because I have to concentrate hard to do unnatural things. Too much of work has nothing to do with being productive. A large part of it is putting up with other people's b.s., bureaucracy, social control, moving around from one place to another, and stupid little details like schedules and deadlines and timecards. It's tiring.

I gave up on having a place to live because the cost of rent or mortgage would require me to work full-time, which I don't have the energy for. Working full-time makes me suicidal. I live in my van and work part-time at a job that doesn't require much interaction with people. It's boring and takes time away from my hobbies, but it's much better than most jobs, and I don't hate work so much anymore.



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16 Mar 2013, 4:25 pm

Well I am not a gentleman of leisure, I have to work for a living.

I think that while the world of work is not perfect, it is far better to work then not to work. Going to work does give you many advantages, it puts money in your wallet and it does provide some order to your life.


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redrobin62
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16 Mar 2013, 4:25 pm

Can you imagine not ever having to work again? Pure unadulterated joy!



justkillingtime
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16 Mar 2013, 5:22 pm

Pure unadulterated freedom.


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kouzoku
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16 Mar 2013, 5:33 pm

It feels so unnatural to me and painful, due to my medical issues, but I do it day after day. I honestly don't know if I am doing myself for harm than good by doing so, but I need the money. I have to take care of myself, is it not? And it's more unhealthy for me not to have a schedule. If I had it my way, I'd be back in Uni pursuing a PhD in music, but even when working, I can't afford that kind of tuition.

If I go on disability, I will have to say goodbye to all my dreams. I might not have a choice in the matter, eventually since I'm losing eyesight. Why can't I spend my life doing something I hate to my core? Am I going to regret living this way later? I want to fight as long as I can. I know I'd regret giving up.

To be short, I don't have any answers right now. No one in my life cares about me enough to show any concern so I'm trying to find my way.



onechordbassist
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16 Mar 2013, 6:50 pm

I once thought I was just lazy and if only I pushed myself hard enough I could work like anyone else does, just a little willpower. Problem was I wasn't even able to will. Back then I had a job as an ad delivery, putting ad folders together and then dropping them at every mailbox in the area. Saturdays would come and go and each saturday I could make myself work and after that I always was unable to even talk reasonably.

Once it happened the way it had to happen. Adrenalin triggers muscular and cerebral activity, right? And pain makes adrenalin be released, right? Had a pocket knife on the table and next thing I knew was I had a hole in my calf three centimeters wide, seven centimeters long and deep enough to uncover some still twitching sinews and below these the fibula, bloody and slimey just the way a human being looks from the inside... 'twas an accident, sure, but I should have learned from that experience what I only have learned lately. Labour kills. Work kills. And I won't make my human dignity be dependent on my workforce because the last time I did I could have lost my leg.

It is, however, alright if you think you have to work to earn your living. I'm not judging anybody for that and if you still can bear going to work you should. But noone in this world has the right to judge anyone for not wanting to work and for knowing work will not be for their good. And yes, if you say I don't want to work and if you say work kills my soul and if you say work kills my ability to feel joy then it's just what you've got to do: Refuse it. Refuse the coercion, the compulsion, the force that makes you do things you don't feel happy with because it's your right as a human being and it's your duty towards your dignity.



Tahitiii
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16 Mar 2013, 7:42 pm

It depends.

If by “work” you mean being kicked around, kissing butts and participating in an immoral activity for
a company that shouldn’t exist, (cough-bigboxstore-cough) I agree, I wish I never had to work again.

If by “work” you mean doing something productive that makes sense to me, I would love to work.

“Real job,” meaning someone who produces something of value, like a farmer, mechanic, carpenter or plumber,
Or provides a useful service – I wish I could use doctors and teachers as examples,
but most of the ones I’ve seen do more harm than good.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many real jobs left in the modern world.
Most of the work that remains involves scams, violence against the most vulnerable, or glorified welfare.
Welfare for underemployed social workers = programs for the poor or disabled that do nothing for the client;
just provide a government job for someone with a degree who can’t find anything useful to do with it.
Or obvious welfare – not much better than digging a ditch so someone else can fill it in.

If I hit the lottery, I would still “work” in that I would find something productive to do.
Just without all the crap.



kouzoku
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16 Mar 2013, 7:48 pm

onechordbassist wrote:
I once thought I was just lazy and if only I pushed myself hard enough I could work like anyone else does, just a little willpower. Problem was I wasn't even able to will. Back then I had a job as an ad delivery, putting ad folders together and then dropping them at every mailbox in the area. Saturdays would come and go and each saturday I could make myself work and after that I always was unable to even talk reasonably.

Once it happened the way it had to happen. Adrenalin triggers muscular and cerebral activity, right? And pain makes adrenalin be released, right? Had a pocket knife on the table and next thing I knew was I had a hole in my calf three centimeters wide, seven centimeters long and deep enough to uncover some still twitching sinews and below these the fibula, bloody and slimey just the way a human being looks from the inside... 'twas an accident, sure, but I should have learned from that experience what I only have learned lately. Labour kills. Work kills. And I won't make my human dignity be dependent on my workforce because the last time I did I could have lost my leg.

It is, however, alright if you think you have to work to earn your living. I'm not judging anybody for that and if you still can bear going to work you should. But noone in this world has the right to judge anyone for not wanting to work and for knowing work will not be for their good. And yes, if you say I don't want to work and if you say work kills my soul and if you say work kills my ability to feel joy then it's just what you've got to do: Refuse it. Refuse the coercion, the compulsion, the force that makes you do things you don't feel happy with because it's your right as a human being and it's your duty towards your dignity.


So scary; I'm glad you are okay.

That makes me think. I have several health issues which cause drastic fatigue and I am constantly doing things on auto-pilot. Several times a day, I forget what people are saying. Combine that with vision loss (I'm slowly going blind) and I've had a few close accidents while driving. I'm worried someday something bad is going to happen because I keep "forcing myself" to do everything. Is that what they call a gut feeling? Intuition? But I don't see a way out. I'm living with my dad now after 7 years of independence b/c I couldn't keep up with bills. Because of the economy, I had to accept work I'm vastly overqualified for and don't make enough to survive on my own. Every day I wonder "Is it worth it?" Recently, I interviewed for the position one level higher than where I'm at now. Basically, I'm doing a lot of this for the health insurance. I also NEED to live on my own. After living alone for almost a decade, I forgot what hell it is to live with someone else. Also, my dreams cost money. I want to save enough for a trip to Japan to visit where my mom is from, etc. I want things of my own....

I doubt if I can go on disability and go back to Uni. No one is going to give me free tuition.

Every day I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. If I weren't working, I'd be thinking the same thing. How I rationalize it is this: I can be at home and miserable or be at work and get paid while feeling miserable. I don't even know if that's a sound argument.

I always try to be strong and stoic to just fight on for my dreams.



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17 Mar 2013, 12:45 am

Oh god yes!

First of all, I’m not likely to get a job, I have poor credentials which certainly won’t help me (not even completed high school and had a record of being late a lot and skipped a lot of school because I didn’t wish to be there), and the whole “So what have you done since?” or “What do you do all day?” part of interviews isn’t fun. What I’ve been doing is finally living my *life* These kinds of people never get that.

My job phobia is mostly based on bad experiences with the other institutions of life. A little walkthrough: I didn’t like nursery, I hated school. I was miserable and bored and I felt I wasted my time. This feeling became even stronger as I got older. Wasting the entire day doing something I hate, getting up early (not good with my messed up rhythm), getting to the hated school, spending x hours there being bored out my wits, and not getting home before very late in the afternoon, sometimes as late as 18:00, then making dinner (or help making dinner). Always arriving home overwhelmed and fed up. Never having the time to be me, not even in the evenings, as I simply didn’t have the energy (never mind that I in principle should have been doing my homework, I seldom did or even acknowledged school’s existence at all once the school day was through). As the evening became night I was reluctant to get to sleep, desperately wanting some me-time, never wanting to go to sleep as the sleep would be followed by another hated day. This lasted on the different schools until I simply couldn’t get up in the morning, I just couldn’t face another day wasted, and quit the darn thing. I’ve quit 3 schools and each time it took me a long time to recover.

I can’t imagine anything I could do that wouldn’t make me feel the same way. And I never ever wanna be that miserable again.
There simply isn’t anything I enjoy that I could do for a living. Well, actually something to do with animals might be an exception but I’m cursed with asthma and allergies, and reptiles aren’t allowed here.
At one point I wanted to be lighthouse keeper but then all the lighthouses became automated.
At one point I was interested in car mechanics but then all the cars became rolling computers.
Palaeontology and archaeology are interesting but way too many have that

Now add crowded tubes/buses, being slow on oral instructions and not good at asking for help, as well as being asocial and aloof in an environment where I’m almost certain to find very annoying people who wants to waste time small talking, and the nightmare is close to complete.

For political reasons (they kill turtles and other exotic pets here because they’re illegal) I hate my country (its authorities and laws) and I’m not crazy about society as a whole, so I have no wish to contribute and I sure don’t feel like I owe this place anything.

OMG I so desperately wish I could win the lottery!! ! Then I’d go do volunteer work helping save sea turtles in Costa Rica (they have programs for it there).


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17 Mar 2013, 3:00 am

Well, there is a reason that people pay you to work: because they know that you don't want to be there! Unfortunately to get by in the world you have to work, it's just one of those things. 100,000 years ago you'd have to work to gather food and construct shelter for your family...nowadays for all our technology things aren't much different. As excited as I am about my career, if I could retire today I probably would. I do truly enjoy what I do, but I enjoy sleeping till 10 every day, hiking, and playing golf so much more!

It can be stressful to think of a lifetime of work, but focus more on what that work allows you to do than on what it prevents you from doing. For example, if you get a good job and gain some tenure, you can often get up to 3-5 weeks of vacation a year, and actually have the money to go on them! You don't have to worry about having enough money for food, housing, etc. All in all a good job is a good thing to have! And trust me, I highly doubt that you are "too weird" to work, there are jobs out there for everyone, you just have to find them!

That said, if you really don't want to work in the traditional sense at all, you could always follow my example above. AKA: find an isolated and uninhabited area, build your own house, gather your own food, and provide for all your own needs. Although I think you'll find that such a lifestyle is probably going to be much harder work and far less enjoyable.



rickith
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17 Mar 2013, 6:02 am

Joe90 wrote:
It's because the thought of HAVING to be somewhere for the rest of my life, week in week out, and not even getting a retirement at the end of it (because by the time I get to 60 the retirement age will most probably have moved up to about 99), it all just really depresses me

It is very daunting if you think about it like that. But perhaps you'll meet a good guy in the mean time so you have someone you love to come home to. Perhaps you could also work less hours so you have some more time for yourself. I work fulltime currently, but I am going to start working less soon (32 hours probably) for pretty much the same reason. It feels like my life revolves around work and I don't think it should be like that.

Joe90 wrote:
I just wish I could just win the lottery and give up work completely, buy myself a nice little house away from other people, and just do some voluntary work near by, and maybe find myself a nice man who also is rather solitary, and just keep my life simple and easy without being under pressure by anyone. That's what I want.

I buy two lottery tickets every month for the same reason (though I'd want a nice woman)... no luck so far though.



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17 Mar 2013, 6:50 am

Quote:
-"Choose a job you love to do, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

Confucius


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kouzoku
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17 Mar 2013, 9:59 am

Ichinin wrote:
Quote:
-"Choose a job you love to do, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

Confucius


That's why I want to go to music school. I want to shoot myself in the foot for listening to everyone else and getting a Business degree. I'm making $12 an hour with a Bachelors Degree. I should have gone to music school. I'd be getting paid the same, but I'd be happy doing it.



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17 Mar 2013, 10:47 am

I currently do a job I find easy and non-stressful, but the pay is appalling. I work 38 hours a week and couldn't afford to work part time. I did work part time when I was teacher and lived at home but the stress of classroom teaching outweighed the relaxation of working part time. Then there was all the lesson prep I had to do

I feel like everyone else in my position would be trying to get a better paying job, but I don't really want to right now. I want to spend my time writing songs and writing my book. When I worked 50 hours a week in the past, I didn't have the energy to do those things. I'm just glad that I have a bit of energy left over to do my own thing.