Workaholics Anonymous

"Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint."  Proverbs 23:4 NIV


The downfall of having my colorful, red personality (see previous blog post) is that I'm a workaholic.  I don't intend to be, but I get really antsy when I'm not working.  The only way for me to truly relax is to remove me entirely from the places where I can do work--my house included.  Vacations were invented for people like me. And when I don't take vacations, I get tired and I wear myself out.

This verse was written for all the workaholics out there. People like me need salaries. We need to know that even if we kill ourselves to finish our work, we're not going to get paid anymore.  The hourly wage and incentive system is awful for the workaholic.  We're always thinking, "if I could just put in a few extra hours then I could buy this..."

This verse is a reminder to me that we have to show restraint by creating boundaries for ourselves.  How? I know that for me, having a salary takes away the lure of overtime and extra money.  And volunteer work is even better, because I'm not even worrying about the payoff and can focus on what I'm doing.  Being a stay-at-home mom has taught me to be smarter about how I spend money since we don't have as much coming in.  Staying away from job boards to look at potential jobs is good too.  Walking through model homes of houses that I might be able to afford but really don't need is bad.  Shopping at Willow Bend at Neiman Marcus is bad too.

Let's show some restraint and stop tempting ourselves because as verse 5 says "cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle."