Hello everyone, thanks for the birthday wishes in April... apologies I didn't write anything earlier as I was a bit busy traveling. Moreover, I found myself in the unusual situation of not having an idea of what to write about ...
As usual, when I'm in these situations, an idea usually finds me.
A days back while having breakfast with Haruna with a Japan client in Sydney, she suddenly got a call from the client; who requested that she arrive early to help with some additional setup for training.
As she got up to leave, I said to her "Have a good day in the office" in English, to which she replied "Thanks".
I then asked her how one would say this phrase "Have a good day at work" in either Japanese or Chinese ...
That stopped her dead in her tracks ...
She stood there motionless, like a program that was trying to call a non-existent code block; or a deer frozen in a car's headlights.
She replied that she had no idea how to say this; as Asian culture simply didn't equate the concept of "WORK" and "FUN".
Work was supposed to be a grueling task that one had to do in order to survive ... things which one could say in Chinese/Japanese include "I hope you make a lot of money" or "I hope you can retire early."
Work is not something that's meant to be fun. Japan/Taiwan/Korean culture allows for the rewards from work to be enjoyed; but not the work itself.
Obviously, that's Asia ... not the west.
However, the last time I was in SF ... what surprised me was that when I talk to American GenZ-ers ... they seem the have the same mentality now. They are hyper-focused on simply getting enough money to retire ... and it doesn't matter what amount of pain and toil they need to go thru in order to reach that goal.
If I can be a bit bold, I think this is probably not a healthy mindset.
In this day and age, while money is an essential component to happiness, it's not the only one.
And to be honest, I know quite a few people here who have tons of cash and are just plain miserable 。。。
Ultimately, don't forget that our lives are the sum of our experiences, and if the majority of those experiences are of a job/situation that one hates ... it's not going to make for a very happy person.
In life, keep in mind the path one takes to their destination is often as important as the destination itself.
With that I thank everyone here for their birthday wishes and hope you all have a great remaining 2026!
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