What inspires people to work hard?

For most, financial reward is all the incentive they need. It doesn’t matter what ends they’re working toward, or who suffers or benefits as an indirect result of their labor, as long as they’re paid well for it. I both admire and pity such people.

I admire them because they get to walk through the world knowing they appear “normal.” Regardless of whether or not they succeed, they can discuss their accomplishments or failures in ways that resonate with their peers. If they get a job as a corporate gopher at a Fortune 500 company, they’re pretty psyched about it. They serve the machine instead of serving themselves, but that’s okay; their relatives will be impressed; their salary and the things it buys override whatever inner disquiet they might otherwise feel about dedicating their lives to absolute nothingness.

I rail against such normality in this and other blogs. But at least part of my resentment may stem from a subconscious attempt to justify my inability to be happy in this world most people see as normal. Despite whatever sense of pride I feel when I face myself in a mirror, I am unendingly bitter that most people with my aptitude got better grades and earned fancier jobs than me. So, yes, I’m jealous of those who can waste 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, for the rest of their lives doing something that pays well, even if their work hurts the planet and leaves them joyless.

Maybe the only reason I respect people who don’t get it right the first time is because I myself am in the process getting it wrong.