I honestly believe work is something we do to make life possible, not something that should define our entire worth. There’s even a popular saying that goes, “na who work go chop.” That alone shows that work is necessary for survival. We all have to put in effort, sweat, and energy just to make ourselves and our family survive. But then, at the same time, I don’t think our lives or our identities should revolve entirely around our jobs. Because the truth is, work is temporary. A job can be here today and gone tomorrow, and if we’ve placed all our value in it, we’ll be left broken when it slips away.
I once knew a man who ran a shop where he sold wires and other electrical equipment. For years, business was good, and he was making a lot of money. Everyone admired how successful he was, and honestly, it looked like he had everything figured out. But then one day, the unimaginable happened—his shop caught fire. Everything was reduced to ashes within hours. Just like that, all he had built over the years was gone. He went from being very comfortable to starting over again, back at square one. And the saddest part is that, even till today, he hasn’t been able to get back to the level he was before the incident.
That experience really made me think deeply. If a person ties all their self-worth, their identity, and even their happiness to one particular job, what happens when that job disappears? What happens when the unexpected happens, and you lose it all in the blink of an eye? Life becomes even harder, not just because of the financial struggles but also because of the emotional weight of feeling like your entire worth has been stripped away.
That’s why I feel it’s important to see work for what it truly is—a means to earn a living. We work so that we can put food on the table, take care of our families, and create opportunities for a better life. But beyond that, life is meant to be lived and enjoyed. Work should never consume us to the point that we forget to actually live.
So yes, i would advise that we work hard because our survival depends on it, but we should also never let our entire worth rest on one job because at the end of the day, anything can happen and we wouldn't have something important to fall back on.
Thanks for reading.