Total leisure hardest career to pursue

Azim Jamal 

By Nido Qubein and Azim Jamal, azim@corporatesufi.com

In Summary

Quiet time can lead to ingenious ideas. A few moments spent in total relaxation can be more productive than hundreds of hours spent at hard labour.

A life of total leisure is the hardest career to pursue. But being overworked can cause stress and anxiety, which inhibit productivity. Life Balance means finding a middle ground between the two.

Quiet time can lead to ingenious ideas. A few moments spent in total relaxation can be more productive than hundreds of hours spent at hard labour.

Archimedes, the ancient physicist and mechanical engineer, was given the task of determining whether a crown made for the king was of pure gold. The solution to the problem came to him as he lay in a bathtub.

Archimedes reasoned that an object submerged in water would displace a volume of water equal to its own volume. By determining how much that same volume of gold would weigh, and comparing that weight with the weight of the crown, he could determine whether the crown was pure gold.

That bit of relaxation paid off for Archimedes. But if you spend all your time relaxing and meditating, your ideas will never make it out of your imagination. To implement your ideas, there’s no substitute for hard work.

So dream to bring your future into focus and act to bring it into reality.

Short-Term Imbalance

Once in a while it may be necessary to allow for temporary imbalance as a means to achieve long-term goals. Such imbalance is tolerable, and even desirable, if it is just for a short time.

But if it continues for long-term, it can lead to danger. An author working on a book may have to work extra-long hours to meet a deadline, or may have to go to extraordinary lengths to conduct research.

Athletes training for the Olympics may have to push their bodies extra hard to whip them into shape for world-class competition. A contractor may have to push extra hard to bring a project in on time and avoid severe monetary penalties.

An occasional imbalance is OK if you’re working toward something that will contribute to long-range stability. But make sure that the imbalance is temporary. And let your family and others close to you know what to expect.

Material Responsibility vs. Spiritual Responsibility