Lesson #4: I want to work to live, not live to work

Last weekend the Mayatan teachers traveled to Placencia, Belize to renew our 90-day tourist visas. We left Copan at 6 am on Saturday and arrived in Placencia at 7pm. It was a long and tiring trip, but the day to relax on Sunday more than made up for the long days of travel. We had the opportunity to explore the shops and eat the local food on Sunday. A couple of the teachers arranged for us to go snorkeling for a low rate of $25 a person. Belize has the 2nd-largest coral reef in the world-second in size to Australia's Great Barrier Reef. I was so excited to see it! Our snorkeling guide told us that his nickname was Bobo. We referred to him as Mr. Bobo. :) He took us by boat to two islands about 10 miles out from the peninsula of Placencia. I saw a sea cucumber, brightly-colored fish and coral, and starfish (just to name a few of the beautiful sea creatures). While out on our excursion, Mr. Bobo shared a little about his life with us. He told us that he has been a fishermen since the time he was a little boy. He does deep-sea fishing (we were able to witness his skills with the spear), and he takes tour groups out into the ocean as well. Mr. Bobo said that he has lived in the United States for a while. He followed that comment with the remark that he did not enjoy living in the United States because all the people there work all of the time. They never rest. That statement really made me consider the lives of Americans. Our lives are so unbalanced! It is not uncommon for people to work every single day of the week, from sunrise until sunset. I began to ask myself why. Perhaps it is true that some Americans make so little money at their jobs that they must work that much just to live. A large part of this problem is the standard of living that Americans are accustomed to. We expect a certain type of living space, particular types of foods, to be able to go out when we feel like it, and certain amounts of clothing. Or perhaps Americans spend their lives working because they are working for the day that they will no longer have to work. It seems as most Americans dream about retirement. I might be mistaken, but it seems as though the people in Belize did not expect to have a retirement from work some day. Or maybe the people know that their children will take care of them when they no longer can earn a living. As a whole, I feel like Americans do not have that sense of security and comfort in knowing that their loved ones will care for them when they are old. Instead, we build nursing homes to do the job. Nursing homes cost money. Speaking of security, perhaps that is another reason why Americans work. They want to become wealthy. Wealth can mean security for some people, a particular standard of living for others, and a position of power for others. Although I can't deny the reasonableness in some of these pursuits (especially the sense of security), I also can't help but agree with Mr. Bobo. Is this what we were created for? To spend our lives working? The people of Belize were so laid back. They spent their time working jobs like taking tourists on snorkeling excursions, making and selling jewelry, fishing, and cooking and selling food. I have not visited everywhere in Central America, but I get the same feeling from every else that I have visited-the laid back lifestyle. I sensed it in Cayo Cochino, I sense it in Copan, and I felt it in Placencia. We also talked to a couple of guys where we had breakfast on Sunday morning before leaving to head back to Copan. We asked them how they felt about foreigners coming to live and work in Placencia. They said that they don't harbor any hate, but they don't like it when foreigners come and try to tell them how to live. I wonder if part of the telling them how to live involved work habits. Talking to the people of Belize really made me consider my life...am I working to live or living to work? And what do each of these statements really mean? I've known for a long time that the ideal life would be one in which I would not have to worry about money-as long as I worked, I would know that my living space and food would be provided for. I'm not sure how this ideal could be achieved, but I feel that this belief fits more in line with the belief that I want to work to live...not live to work.