Working hard is a privilege that keeps us gainfully occupied and helps us grow. We were not born to be lazy and over-indulgent. An active life is a healthy life.

We may not realise it but working hard is a virtue.

Working hard keeps us active. Regular movement and activity keep us fit. There’s no point having much but not having the energy and health to enjoy it.

It keeps our mind active. We apply ourselves creatively and solving problems. Mental well being protects us from boredom, loneliness, and depression.

It gives us a deep sense of satisfaction. The sleep we get on being joyously exhausted can never be achieved by lying around and wasting the day.

On reflecting we realise that working hard is not about always being laborious. We often use the phrase – ‘let’s party hard’ to mean enjoying to the utmost. Working hard in essence means living to the utmost.

And being wealthy and having much in life is no license to do nothing. And a huge disservice will be done to the next generation if they inherit so much that they don’t need to do anything and they fall into the trap of thinking that doing nothing is having an enjoyable life.

A flowing river has fresh clean water. Keeping ourselves well occupied, constantly flowing with activity, no matter our age, keeps our freshness. I am reminded of a hotel we stayed in near lake Lugano run by a family. It started raining and the staff started moving some tables and chairs indoors. And the father who must have been in his late seventies started picking up the furniture as well. This struck me as interesting and on closer observation, I saw this man looking healthy, happy with a shine in his eyes. I somehow felt he had realised that he was rich but idleness would take away the most important thing he had – the opportunity to make each moment count.

Working hard is not hard work. It’s loving life and truly living it.