Tuesday 24 February 2009

Modern unbalance

By the rate of divorce in corporate settings, I am confident - as if I had a doubt - that sardine life is not good for the spirit. With bad spirit after a long day going home and continue to behave with empathy, courtesy and a genuine care of how did the day go of the once loved one, can be difficult. Hence, there is a high divorce rate - or adultery, as the wedding ring is a surrogate indicator of maturity - in corporate environments. But this is only an indication that something goes wrong. Modern demands of having - whether money or fame - cancel the needs of being. And the turbulence of hard working people private life is only an indication of how unbalanced our modern life is - if there is any private life at all.. We are constantly stressed thin for time, always doing the things we have to do, not necessarily what we want to do, we are becoming masters in compromising. The older we get the higher the compromises. We at some point forget where we started. The greatest danger is when we convince ourselves we chose this life and we like it. And then we drug ourselves with pointless dinners with equally unhappy - yet unaware of their unhappiness - friends. Or home with DVD box sets. And we live the same day over and over and over again. And then on weekends we show off our 4WD in a crowded ski or beach resort (in this case, also the new silicone)
So there is no balance. Achieving one goal to the expense of all others is definitely not a happy life. Achieving all goals and then the world would be filled with Obermans. We are definitely not there yet - at least not as a species.

4 comments:

George Georgitsis said...

I agree with your general thesis, however, there are ways for one to try to get out of this negative vortex. The answer is to change, a change that comes from within oneself. Change the accepted norms of work, challenge the status quo, manage work time more efficiently, build strong teams, delegate, take risks, change the job and force the balance towards "being". The worst thing one can do is to accept that nothing can be done and "endure". Enduring puts one in a drugged mode, as you called it, and there is no escape as the brain now gets conditionned not to see anymore that the "being" is being irreversibly destroyed. Apologies for the length of the comment

Zeta Zizou said...

No, no length. I love the comment. However, my posting challenged the idea of 'making it'. Do we really need to make it that big up there? What is the point? What does this makes our life happier? Does it? The point was beyond finding the time. The point was about finding the purpose.
Yet, your words are as always top class material. Thanks

George Georgitsis said...

One doesn't have to make it big to destroy his "being". Unfortunately most people destroy the "being" just to keep a mediocre job. So whilst I do see the point you are making, but I tend to be pragmatic, and I have been frequently accused of being such. Tilting the balance is my advice by choice, using management skills, "umf" and some risk taking. People will borrow to buy a new kitchen but do not borrow to cover the expenses of the time that will take them to find a new more balanced job. I've seen it so many times!
PS: Thanks for your compliment Zeta.

Zeta Zizou said...

That is all true; however I need you to understand that my point started from observing the corporate environment. However it does not stay there and I did not make it in order to show the long work hours etc. I just wanted to show the wrong priorities that were included in the 'making it' and 'having'
It has nothing to do with the job part. It is about filling voids. The comment was that the more we have and the more we achieve - if that is external, such as a job, career or money - the bigger the void inside

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