Ahhh Limmy, a true man of the people!
Okay, well, this changes things.
I have long held the belief that I didn’t ask to be born, but since I was, I’m now forced to live a life because I refuse to end it myself.
However, I had not, until now, applied that same sense of logic to work ethic. It’s true, I have not ever agreed to do my best except by volunteering it. People have told me to do my best, I’ve said that I will do my best, but I don’t think it’s every been the case that someone has asked for me to do my best and I’ve said I will, as an agreement.
I certainly made no such agreements prior to being alive.
It’s a good point. One I had not considered until now.
I started a new job some months back, and my boss straight up told us in a team meeting “we’re not paying you to give 100% all the time, that’s not possible. We’re paying you for your average effort. Everyone has good days and bad, so don’t worry about it. Just do the job as good as you can on any given day and if we were right in hiring you, that will be enough.” Kind of blew my mind and confirmed I’d done the right thing signing with that company.
I had a math class in college where the professor gave us quizzes on Fridays instead of giving us any homework and then after the quiz told us we shouldn’t study too hard on the weekend because we were young and should have fun.
I hate math. I’m some sort of math-illiterate. But I enjoyed that professor.
I tell my wife this all the time.
You didn’t ask to be here, you don’t owe your parents anything even if they weren’t abusive shitstains, stop setting yourself on fire to keep them warm.
I tell this to myself often. Yet it is so very hard to actually believe it and act upon it with the amount of baggage that brings with it. :/
As someone who just sent 20 automatic e-mails to the same person, I don’t deserve anything.
Absofuckinglutely.
“… just remember that no one needs to be good to- or for you, either. And they still do.”
Yeah, I think this “advice” is context dependent, such as for dealing with toxic family or employers or during an existential crisis. I’m obligated to be, at the very least, “good enough” for the children I bring into the world. And I strive to be good to and for the people around me, because I prefer to be around people who would do the same for me. “Fuck ‘em” as an attitude at a societal level will make the world mediocre.
Also, it should be noted that the person who benefits from you doing your best is yourself.
Anyone who encourages you to stop doing your best, because of some kind of “you deserve a break” philosophy, is trying to undermine your mental health.
Seriously folks, do your best. It is literally for your own benefit that this is encouraged. It’s like wearing sunblock. You don’t do that out of obligation to others. You do it for yourself.
