Oct/080
Being a workaholic
I found an article written earlier this year by Christopher Kaczor titled "The Sin of Greed: When We Worship the Golden God." In the article, Kaczor goes into great detail on various aspects of greed, it's effects (and non-effects), and how that relates to our faith.
One of the themes in the article that really struck me was the idea of over-work as a form of greed:
Today, greed often takes the form of consumerism and over-work. Consumerism is a view of the human person that reduces us to what we can buy and consume. It is captured by the motto: "He who dies with the most toys wins." The workaholic’s greed, on the other hand, is not in consuming but in producing. Both the ultra-consumer and the workaholic are, practically speaking, materialists: What really counts, the ultimate goal of life, is what can be bought and sold.
I'm a workaholic - no doubts. In a weird way I am driven by producing, and I'm not sure why. (I have my guesses.) I think he nails why this a real problem in an illustration he makes later in the article:
For this reason, greed is a particularly dangerous kind of sin. The glutton eventually achieves complete fullness. The person committing a lustful act reaches a point of natural satiation. The angry person may explode in rage, thereby draining his fury. Even the drunk will reach a point where he passes out and can drink no more. But the greedy person never reaches an endpoint in the accumulation of riches.
As a workaholic, I have no safety mechanism telling me to stop. So because of that, I hurt those around me by being unavailable; or focused on other things or drained when I am available. It can also prevent me from doing other things, like volunteering, spending with with friends who might need me, or other even taking care of myself (aspects of a balanced life: time for church, fitness, etc...).
To put that in Kaczor's words, it means when I'm over-working I'm possibly not doing meaningful activity or exercising personal control.
What does help people attain happiness, according to contemporary psychologists? Four things matter in particular: 1) good relationships with others, 2) strong religious ties, 3) meaningful activity, and 4) personal control. We can translate these into more traditional terms: 1) love of neighbor, 2) love of God, 3) corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and 4) exercising authentic freedom by doing good and avoiding evil.
Great article.
