Wisdom can come from anywhere - even a Buddhist on a cell phone
"It is better to sweat from hard work than cry from laziness, which encourages poverty."
This is a Buddhist teaching that really hits home with me. Thinking about the nature of our often posh, western, first world lives I get a little touchy about people who complain about their, often, pretty great lives. I know that people can be unhappy in many situations but I do often think it is tactless to complain a lot about a job when you make lots of money or to be so picky in our gluttonous living environment. I think choice is great, I'm glad we have it, but it is really a blessing (that we should not take for granted) that we have so much easy and cheap joband good food available. We never worry about getting enough food or where it is going to come from. I guess this environment fosters that behavior, being spoiled as we are.
But that's complaining that I'm, um, complaining about. What the quote refers to is hard work and laziness. I think that somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted to be a hard worker or, at least, I wanted to be dedicated and not half-assed. I am sure there are things I'm still not up to snuff on but I think back to being a kid and one of my more persistent memories is of giving up on things too easily. I decided at one point that I didn't want to do that. I think that is why I became the type of person that I became: someone who would rather do something than pay for it or pay someone else to do it. I know people who would prefer to give me money and buy me lunch if I'll go get it. This is a perfect situation because I'd rather walk to and go get lunch, for example, than pay someone else to go get it for me. That is just an example but it applies to many parts of my life. I think it is a distinction between some people and I guess that I often think that, probably because I try to live this way, that it is better to try to do something about a problem than to a) complain about it or b) throw money at it to make it go away.
Well, that's what that quote made me think. I respect someone who tires from hard work and perhaps complains about how tired they are. I don't respect someone who defers on the work and only wants to be lazy or find some way to pay someone to do a simple task. Not something like fixing your car or plumbing. I think that complaining about earned tiredness is not complaining but maybe a cry against sloth.
This is a Buddhist teaching that really hits home with me. Thinking about the nature of our often posh, western, first world lives I get a little touchy about people who complain about their, often, pretty great lives. I know that people can be unhappy in many situations but I do often think it is tactless to complain a lot about a job when you make lots of money or to be so picky in our gluttonous living environment. I think choice is great, I'm glad we have it, but it is really a blessing (that we should not take for granted) that we have so much easy and cheap joband good food available. We never worry about getting enough food or where it is going to come from. I guess this environment fosters that behavior, being spoiled as we are.
But that's complaining that I'm, um, complaining about. What the quote refers to is hard work and laziness. I think that somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted to be a hard worker or, at least, I wanted to be dedicated and not half-assed. I am sure there are things I'm still not up to snuff on but I think back to being a kid and one of my more persistent memories is of giving up on things too easily. I decided at one point that I didn't want to do that. I think that is why I became the type of person that I became: someone who would rather do something than pay for it or pay someone else to do it. I know people who would prefer to give me money and buy me lunch if I'll go get it. This is a perfect situation because I'd rather walk to and go get lunch, for example, than pay someone else to go get it for me. That is just an example but it applies to many parts of my life. I think it is a distinction between some people and I guess that I often think that, probably because I try to live this way, that it is better to try to do something about a problem than to a) complain about it or b) throw money at it to make it go away.
Well, that's what that quote made me think. I respect someone who tires from hard work and perhaps complains about how tired they are. I don't respect someone who defers on the work and only wants to be lazy or find some way to pay someone to do a simple task. Not something like fixing your car or plumbing. I think that complaining about earned tiredness is not complaining but maybe a cry against sloth.
posted by Mr. Astigmatism at 4:43 PM
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