Another form of self abuse

I once heard that perfection is the highest form of self abuse. Very wise indeed.

I personally consider workaholism as another form of self abuse.

That could stem from underlying insecurity. Fear of losing one’s job or even one’s self worth. It might be from an extremely strict and tough upbringing that they are never good enough. They must constantly strive to prove themselves to their parents and later to themselves. Or they will not be loved or valued.

The worst is that they were not aware of it at all until they run into some severe physical and mental issues very late in their life due to this long-term abuse. They have been wearing hard work as a badge of honor and perhaps even criticizing others who don’t work as hard as they do. They would feel weak or lazy if they don’t work long hours. It seems working extremely hard is the only way to justify their very existence.

Too bad is that the parents or teachers who instill this belief into the children will never realize how much damage they have done. They thought they were building productive lifelong habits for the youth.

That is profound sadness and tragedy. We can’t blame the parents or teachers because they are victims too. Whose fault then? The harsh treatment of the world we live in that is. Deteriorating income inequality, shrinking middle class and insufficient social safety net are the causes perhaps.

Production is not the problem but distribution.  There is enough food to feed the whole world, but why are there hunger still?

Personal finance problems are just like physical or mental problems many are experiencing that are mere signs of these far-reaching issues.

In conclusion, it is mostly not the fault of individuals. Most likely, the fault of the society or the so called “system” we live in.