Giving up work

“Giving up smoking is easy… I’ve done it hundreds of times”, said Mark Twain. Of course staying off is the hard part.

In some ways it’s the same with me and work. Ever since I joined the ranks of the semi-retired there have been times when I have thought about giving it all up. It’s not that I really need the money, though I convince myself I do, nor that I need the high from the cut and thrust of business (but I guess I do).

It is usually at the end of a busy day when I am flagging a bit, or when I can see a huge pile of work in front of me, or when it’s the start of the new financial year that it gets to me but at other times it just strikes me as if out of the blue. I suddenly feel a huge weight upon me and I wonder why I bother. It doesn’t last that long. A cup of tea or another distraction usually gets me back on the horse until the next time.

I wonder if I felt like this when I was in full time employment. Perhaps I did but then it would have been a waste of time as any thought of giving up would have been a luxury. This could be how people feel when they are trapped in work they don’t like and would like to set up on their own.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, most of the time, and sometimes the bad bits are the price you pay for the good times yet, as I get older, I find myself thinking more and more about what it would be like to have nothing to drive me forward. 

I have often thought about stopping blogging, giving up my Dutch, reading fewer books, being less involved in politics and trying hard not to be the congenital volunteer that I am. The next day though I am back on it having made some excuse as to why this isn’t the right time.

Giving up work is very easy, I have done it hundreds of times now. It’s the staying off that is hard.