Hard Work

It’s garbage day. I’m sending away hard work for the sake of it. I’ve decided that dogs are where it’s at. My son jokes that he wants someone to look at him the way our dog looks at me. There is a grain of truth to every joke. 

Would it be so bad to throw away the very qualities that separate us from our pets? 

My dog loves me unconditionally. He doesn’t care what I look like, what I say or think, or even what I do, so long as he gets to be near me. 

In humans we reject this love, call people needy or weak if they love us like this, but there’s a reason dogs are known as our best friends. 

In my twenties, I had a roommate’s cat who loved bringing dead things into the house. He would leave mice, lizards and birds at my bedroom door. Generous. His natural instinct was to shower me with gifts. And I accepted these gifts as he meant them, just love. 

As we as a society begin to realize that stress and hard work are not the badges of success that we once thought they were, and try to connect with deeper meaning and a more relaxed lifestyle, we should look to our pets for guidance. 

We are not valuable because we stress hard, work hard, or over-exert ourselves. We are valuable because we love. Love is Saturday morning, snuggled in a warm bed, not Monday morning rushing to prepare for an uncomfortable week ahead. Let’s lean toward what feels good. 

There are no awards given out at the end of life for being the hardest worker. In fact, studies show that at the end, most people wish they’d worked less and loved more. 

Why wait? Let’s take a lesson from our dogs (or cats) on this. Our job should be to seek out joy, closeness, and comfort. Anything else we do should merely be an end to that means. Yes, roommate’s cat hunted every morning to bring me tokens of his love, and yes, my dog will do anything he needs to do to get to me, just to be close, but it’s all for love.

It’s garbage day and I’m sending away a work ethic that prevents joy. Hard work is only good for one thing, and that is to create comfort. If I do work hard, it’s going to be working for someone or something that I truly love. Find what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life.