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Work / Leisure

 

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             To sort out the pressures that face retirees we have to examine patterns that are set as a society. Every venue of media bombards us with images of people being busy working. In an article written by Alexander R. Martin titled Leisure and Our Inner Resources, he states that we are so ingrained with a stringent work ethic, that many people have a strong emotional resistance to the idea of idle time. One of the major factors facing retiree's is too much unoccupied time. Work provides a routine as well as an identity. Still, something may be missing that lifts the quality of retirement life above the ordinary. That "something more" may be found in understanding how to incorporate the free time that is now at your disposal into something meaningful. According to Martin, society should make a distinction between the term "leisure" and the time needed to access our ability to use our inner resources towards self-fulfillment. He explains this inner resource as autonomous effort. Autonomous effort means doing something for the sake of doing. An example of this effort is characterized by the young child building sand castles, oblivious of others and unconcerned about approval or disapproval; the basic scientist pursuing the truth; the artist, the poet, the musician expressing themselves, unconcerned with glory or monetary gain (Martin 4a). This inner directed effort plays a key role in our learning to adapt to a life without the constraints of a job. Martin relates the state of mental relaxation to the creative process. He maintains that only during mental relaxation have the profound revelations come to the great thinkers of the past and present (3a). Our present culture does not encourage this type of relaxation. The theory that man was born to work is so entrenched in our culture that we only expect the ability to exert autonomous effort after we have "earned" it. This philosophy has left us somewhat programmed into the belief that once we are idle we become useless.


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