不死不休

我提早退休前，好幾年都每星期工作80至100小時。晚上回家，例行將公事帶回家中繼續苦幹；與家人渡假時，不忘用手提電話處理業務。惟一真正休息的時間是出國公幹，坐在長途飛機上的幾個小時。

            我生長在香港。香港人總是匆匆忙忙——不論是否趕時間及有要事。我是個天生A型工作狂，無論做什麼都超力以赴，處處要競爭求勝。這已成了我性格。就算在公眾泳池習泳，也暗地裡和在旁邊游泳的陌生人一較高下。後來更覺得游泳不夠競爭性，乾脆改打速度更快、競爭更劇烈的壁球。

            我無疑是千千萬萬A型工作狂裡的一員。我們最大的嗜好是拼命工作。聽說日本工作狂特別多，有人甚至做到突然在辦公室倒斃，即所謂karoshi「過勞死」。還有些職員因受不了工作壓力而自殺，日語稱為「過勞自殺」（Karojisatsu）。

            但美國人也不遑多讓。據國際工會（International Labor Organization）最近調查報告，美國人的工時比日本人更長，高踞工業國家榜首。該報告說，美國工人平均每年工作1966小時，在1980年平均是1833小時，日本人同年平均工作2100小時，現下滑至每年平均1889小時。美國人則在1993年迎頭趕上。相較之下，法國人、德國人的工時較短，平均每年分別為1656及1574小時。

            上述統計想是指藍領和白領，行政和專業人士工時更長。根據一個幫忙各公司物色主管人才的機構（Management Recruiters International）所做的調查報告顯示，在5000名受訪的管理階層人士中，82%休息時不忘工作（如渡假時處理業務）。不少人在周末及假期上班，或利用手提電話和傳呼機遙控。不少人渡假時有罪疚感。他們覺得，如想出人頭地，就非加倍努力不可。至於是否做到自己身心力交瘁及犧牲家人，就一概不管。設若夫妻二人同時忙得天昏地暗，這個家可想是家不成家。

            有人告訴我，矽谷全盛時期，電腦程式師每週等閒工作120小時。人人都想：現在市況大好，就業市場縮緊——今日不爭，更待何時？誠然，收入高、住豪宅、分得豐厚的購股權，實在誘人。現在是拼殺時機，務求事業再創高峰，財富升值。但是，往往拼命為工作為金錢作出最重大犧牲的人，結果卻不能享受工作成果。就像聖經中問說﹕人在日光之下勞碌累心，在他一切的勞碌上得著什麼呢？這不難理解，因一個人忙得暗無天日，當然無閒享受人生和工作成果。

            工作狂的代價有時大至無法彌補。醫學雜誌早就警告，過量的壓力能致人於死地。試想，一個忙碌的主管48歲患上心臟病；一個電腦程式員才32歲，已是身心衰殘；或一個工作狂主管，無閒管教兒子，致兒子吸毒、犯法。這對於基督徒父母來說，誠然是人生最大的悲哀：把孩子生下來後，讓他們的靈魂永遠沉淪！這種損失，即使在銀行存款金額多得一個零，或得加倍購股權，都無法彌補。

            「沒有人在臨終時懊悔不曾花更多時間辦公。」我們必須弄清楚人生最重要的是什麼。有很多時候，公司並沒要求我們「做到死」，是我們自己要這樣。問題的關鍵可能是我們的貪念、傲氣、虛榮心、和不安全感，以為事業財富是人生最高的成功目標，豈不知這些都是過眼雲煙，轉眼成空。生命終結時，赤身而來，空手而去，從來沒有人能將世上的成就帶走。美國富豪洛克菲勒先生死後，有人問會計師他留下多少財富，會計師答﹕全部。

            我拼命工作至大約四十歲，才醒覺未將生命為永恆作投資，神幫助我調整人生觀與目標，為我開展了很不一樣的下半生。什麼對您最重要呢？有永恆價值的東西才是最重要，可是，人窮一生奮鬥也無法與永恆扯上關系，只有認識創造宇宙萬有真神，接受祂的兒子耶穌基督作救主，徹底解決罪的問題，與永生的神建立關系，這才是人生最重要的目標。

I originally wrote this article for ProMinistry in English:

WORK TILL YOU DROP

I recall the years before my own early retirement, when on average I worked 80-100 hours a week. Carrying work home was a ritual. Bringing work and mobile phone while vacationing with the family was a given. Ironically, it was only during long overseas flights that I was able to have a few hours’ time for quiet relaxation. Being from Hong Kong where people rush around even though they are not late (or not going any where in particular), I was a consummate Type-A Workaholic. It was in my nature to be fiercely competitive in everything I did. I remember even when I was exercising by swimming laps in a local gym, I had to beat the stranger who was innocently swimming in the next lane! Later on I abandoned the relatively non-competitive sport of recreational swimming, and was hooked on the faster and more competitive game of squash.

No doubt I was only one of many millions of Type-A Workaholics whose addiction in life is their WORK. I was told that Japan is full of these people, and there is even a special term for suicide from overwork – “karojisatsu". But Americans are quickly catching up. A recent report by the International Labor Organization discovered that Americans work the longest hours in the industrialized world, even overtaking the Japanese. The report says on average American workers 1,966 hours each year, compared to an average of 1,833 in 1980. The Japanese only work an average of 1,889 hours, having dropped from 2,100 hours a year in 1980. The report pointed out that American workers overtook the Japanese counterparts sometime during 1993. (Harvard professor Juliet Schor must have sensed this, when she published her book titled “The Overworked American" in 1992). In contrast, French and German workers have always worked less hours than the Americans, averaging only 1,656 and 1,574 hours each year, respectively.

The above statistics probably include mostly blue-collar and office workers. Management executives and professionals most likely work even longer hours. In another survey of 5,000 executives conducted by Management Recruiters International, 82% said they mix business with pleasure (i.e. taking work with them when they are on holidays). Many Americans have put in extra hours during the weekends and holidays, or at least maintain contacts with their work place by beepers and mobile phones. I believe many would feel guilty for taking some time off. They feel that in order to get ahead they must work harder and harder, even if this means bringing incredible physical and mental stress to themselves and their families. If both husband and wife work these breakneck hours, one can imagine the stress their work brings to their marriage.

Turning to the booming Silicon Valley, I was told by some software-engineer friends that they consistently work an average of over 120 hours a week. Everybody is thinking: times are good now; job market is tight — it is now or never. Surely the rising income, more upscale homes and stock options are attractive. This is the time to make every move to bolster your career and your personal net worth. But the experience of many who make tremendous sacrifices to further their careers is that while they are working and earning more, they are enjoying it less. It is not surprising — how can one begin to enjoy life or to enjoy the fruit of one’s labor if one can’t even find the time to do so?

The sacrifice a workaholic makes is tremendous, and often times the damages being inflicted upon oneself and the family is irreparable. Medical journals have long warned that excessive stress is a quiet killer. Think about the busy executive who is struck by a fatal heart attack at age 48. Or the hot-shot programmer who is burned out age 32. Or the son of the workaholic executive who gets into drugs and crimes because of parental neglect. For Christians parents, there is no greater tragedy than to bring children into this world, only to have their souls end up being lost eternally. How can one compensate such loss by gaining another zero in the net worth column, or a doubling of the stock option shares?

“No one on their deathbed has wished that they had spent more hours at the office". We need to have clear priorities in our lives, and working until we drop is often our own choice rather than a company requirement. The greatest obstacle is ourselves — our pride, our sense of insecurity, and our all-consuming desire to enhance our careers and financial standing. The solution for some is to re-set their priorities in life. For some, it could mean voluntarily cut down on work hours. For others, it could mean foregoing the next promotion. But above all, the solution must be a spiritual one : finding the true God of the Universe, accepting His Son as your personal savior and committing your life toGod Kingdom. Make God your priority in life. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).