Unhappy People ... A Good Friend Dies

I received word yesterday that a good childhood friend and classmate of mine died recently. Walt was a good man and a good friend. He served in Vietnam and later worked as an auto mechanic in our small hometown in Illinois. Walt died in Tucson, and how and why he ended up there I don't know. You see, I lost close touch with Walt a few years ago. Our paths didn't cross very often as we ventured through adulthood.

But I'll always remember Walt as a good man and a fun guy with a great outlook on life, even though he had to struggle through the various challenges that visit us all. Even his last bout with cancer. Walt enjoyed day-to-day life.

He wasn't like most people in that regard, I guess, and that's too bad. We only go around once, and life's too short not to enjoy the visit. He enjoyed life to the fullest, including his work. At least that's the way it appeared to me.

Work Makes People Miserable is a sad commentary on the attitude and outlook of too many of us:

"Being out of work causes unhappiness — but apparently, so does working.

New research based on surveys using a smartphone app found that workers were unhappy and stressed while on the job. In fact, respondents ranked being sick in bed as the only activity more unpleasant than working. When offered dozens of options ranging from leisure, such as going to a concert, to personal paperwork, such as paying bills, workers preferred cleaning the house or waiting in line to being on the job.

The findings . . . aren’t incompatible with the notion that having a meaningful job contributes to one’s well-being and sense of self, Mr. Bryson (study's leader) pointed out. “Although work can be beneficial, it can also stress you out and make you worried and anxious,” he said. “That’s why we normally have to be paid to work in the first place, because in the moment, we’d rather actually be doing anything else.”. . .

The survey group is younger . . . with median annual household income between $59,000 and $83,000. An estimated 66% are 35 years old or younger and 95% are 50 or younger. . . .

The company of friends made work far more bearable, respondents said.”A work episode can be nudged into a positive area of happiness purely because you’re with friends,” Mr. Bryson said. By contrast, being with the boss ratcheted up the tension. Doing one’s job became slightly less stressful when workers combined it with activities such as listening to music, drinking coffee or texting.

Respondents rated being on the job outside the standard nine-to-five work day as even more stressful and agitating. However, working between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. wasn’t so onerous. That might reflect night-shift workers relieved to be finishing up their day, Mr. Bryson said, or day shifters heading in early and “feeling that you’re beating the pressure of work by actually getting a head start in the morning.”

Respondents with very low incomes tended to have a much less negative reaction to work. That may be, Mr. Bryson said, because their options outside work “are not very nice…In that sense, they may as well be working.”"

Summing Up

My friend Walt enjoyed life.

So should we all.

He had a way of making himself and those around him feel good and happy about themselves.

So should we all.

That said, in the final analysis, nobody can make us feel good or happy except one person.

And we all know who that person is. We also know that person better than any other person, or at least we should.

My thought for the day is a simple one: DON'T WORRY. BE HAPPY.

That's the way I'll choose to remember Walt.

Thanks. Bob.