03/09/2020
IN THESE times of severe economic depression, a prime concern is having a regular job that guarantees sufficient income to cover the needs of the family. This is not always easy, especially when thousands of workers are being laid off.
Time for Work, Time for Self
Indeed, working long hours without proper rest or recreation can rob you of many joys in life. It can also lead to serious health problems.
Chronic overwork has been linked to obesity, alcoholism, heart disease, workplace accidents, drug dependency, anxiety, fatigue, depression, and many other stress-related disorders. Overwork can also be deadly. One report estimates that in Japan about 10,000 people die annually from overwork, as many as die in automobile accidents in that country each year. This phenomenon—labeled karoshi, “death from overwork”—stretches far beyond Japan.
Balance Work With Family Life
Today many families are overscheduled and underconnected. “Work gets most of my energy and the kids get what’s left,” laments one woman from England. In the United States, 1 in 5 teenagers polled rated “not having enough time with parents” as their top concern. Another U.S. study reports that, on average, dual-income couples talk to each other only 12 minutes a day.
Be assured that balancing your work, recreation, and family needs will bring you rich rewards.
“Better is a handful of rest than a double handful of hard work and striving after the wind.”—Ecclesiastes 4:6