Appreciation

Can work make us feel happier? I don't mean in the literal sense of being happy while you're working, but rather the psychological effect work has on our experiencing happiness.

I came home tonight, after working 10 hours in Boston and hitting the gym for an 1 hour, and I heard Spanish music coming from an open window across the street. It was one of those slow, sad sounding Spanish songs (whatever that is). I couldn't see him, but I heard a guy singing his heart with the song. He seemed genuinely happy, as if he was the happiest person on the planet. But I know that guy. He's a bum. I see him hanging out in front of the house all day, and night. He doesn't work, or do anything. Maybe he's collecting welfare, or has a relative who is, but either way, he does nothing all day. I wondered to myself if I would feel just as happy if I was in his place, having nothing to worry about. Then I wondered if maybe the people who actually work, the ones who put themselves into use everyday, who have goals and ambitions, if maybe they are capable of experiencing more happiness than the ones who don't. Does work, worry, and responsibility teach us to appreciate the simpler things in life even more? A 4 year old child couldn't possibility be able to appreciate living in a big house or even having a yard to play in, until he grows up and sees how things could have been different.

I've seen first hand how experience teaches you to appreciate. After learning how to do basic plumbing, wiring, and construction from my Dad, I started teaching myself and taking on projects (shed / basement) that I never imagined completing myself. After seeing first hand the amount of work, planning, and precision that goes into building something (like the many months my Dad and I spent building the decks, stairs, and kitchen floors at his house last summer), my appreciation for the construction of everything has grown exponentially. The feeling of standing inside my shed, knowing I built it from ground up, carrying every single piece of wood from my truck to that spot, is unexplainable. Suppose I had built a dog house. Would I have the same feeling of appreciation? Of course not.

Experience, it seems, teaches us to appreciate what we have now because we're capable of understanding how thin a line we've walked to get to where we are today.

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  1. i think accomplishment is nice. but having nothing to do or anything to worry about is nice too, but not in a city like this … maybe somewhere in the bahamas … or somewhere safe in cambodia … who am i kidding, a safe place in cambodia, it’s a nice thought. but yea, the bahamas my man, the damn bahamas

  2. I agree that finishing a project brings appreciation to a job well done. When behind at work and finally completing the task, I feel a great sense of accomplishment. I also believe that appreciation from an accomplishment is a learned process.

    It’s a great feeling to just sit at an outdoor cafe in Viet Nam, sipping a hot lemonaide watching life pass before you, not having a care in the world. Sometimes I envy those ppl as well. But my envy is more towards having less clutter in life. I would love to be able to clean out my home and just have the basics needs from day to day living (given a computer is a basic need for me).

  3. Speaking of basic needs, I think I’ll start creating a list of everything I consider a basic need. That way I can start working towards eliminating everything in my life that isn’t a basic need. Obviously, as with you, computers would be one of my basic needs. A cell phone (for business purposes), vehicle, … hmm, now that I think about it, I guess “basic needs” really depend on what kind of life you want to live. If you want to live simply, owning three houses, running two businesses, and working a part-time job certainly isn’t going to get you there. =)

    Maybe I can just keep my life, and my mind, less cluttered and create the simple living atmosphere.

  4. Clear out the clutter, that sounds good. Except… shhhh um… someone in my house likes to create clutter and it’s not me. 🙁

    Of course that someone cleaned out their closet when we moved and gave 4 boxes of clothes to the Salvation Army. I too helped her one year by accidently taking her sweaters to a local drop off place. Luckily I got most of them back. 😳

  5. Haha, I guess I’m lucky in that regard. I live alone!

    Good thing you got back most of those sweaters… What she doesn’t know, won’t hurt. =)

  6. She knew….

    She boxed them up along with some stuff to take to a place like GoodWill and I had a few boxes as well. A few months later (almost winter), I take 4 boxes of clothing over. She goes in the basement and comes up, “David, where’s my box of sweaters”.

    “oh noes”.

    We went shopping for new sweaters that day. The following Thursday my boss and I went up to the place I took them. I told the lady my story. One lady said I would kill my husband if he did that toooo. Another said those were the nicest sweaters we ever had. YES I KNOW, she wasn’t done with them yet. I even got a few that weren’t hers, they were nice and the lady said these must be hers too.

    The day I took the sweaters, I felt appreciation for my accomplishment of helping the poor. Wifey on the other hand had no appreciation for me.