Live to work or Work to live?

I once saw somewhere a question that asked, ‘Do you live to work or work to live?’

Thinking critically about both perspectives, I realized that living to work entails staying alive just so you can work. This could mean that your entire existence is based on working just so that you could maybe enjoy the good pleasures of life. I also deeped that it means that the reason you get up every morning is majorly just so you can work. In this case, some people see the work they do as the purpose for their existence, the work they do is their major source of satisfaction. Live to work- Stay alive to work, your work is what you live for.

Working to live on the other hand means that your work life and work attitude is really just so you can make a living for yourself. This means that how you work is how you live. You work first, just so you can make enough money to live the life you really want to live, or just so you achieve the dream/ work goal that you want to achieve. Work to live- Work just so you can live, the kind of work you do and the effort you put into it determines the kind of life you live.

Engaging my dad in a conversation about this, he made me understand that in life, there are several things that make up your being as a person. There is work, exercise, family, friends, values and so on and these all are guiding factors which in one way or the other helps you to decide on how exactly you want to live your life and the lens through which you want to view life in general. In the context of this write up, the concept of work is what is focused on and to make an informed decision on whether you would rather ‘live to work or work to live’. In my dad’s words conclusively, ‘living to work means that my whole life is centred around my work, while working to live means that although I am putting other factors into consideration, my work is paramount to my survival, no work, no life’.

This can be a very brain tasking and tough question about life to conclude on, however, giving it a ‘wild and thorough thought’ would certainly give you the answer you want and the one that appeals to you the most, irrespective of my point of view.

Giving it a wild and thorough thought, I decided that I’d rather work to live than live to work. Life is really about perspectives, this is my opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I am putting my own opinion out there to guide or influence you in order to decide on your opinion and also to stand as an opposing force to challenge your view.

Please note that through this write up, it is not my intention to shove my opinion down anyone’s throat, I really want to hear your LOGICAL perspective, emphasis on logical.