“A man’s biggest mistake is to believe that he’s working for someone else.”
(Nashua Cavalier)

As most of us head back in to work today, let’s embrace a freeing truth: We don’t have to. None of us have to go to work today at all, much less the particular jobs we occupy.

Now, yes, most of us need to earn income. And yes, most of us have made commitments we may be financially or ethically obligated to fulfill. But these realities don’t change whether we have to go to work; they just change the cost of deciding not to. If you’re willing to accept the cost of leaving your job, leaving your bosses & coworkers, and perhaps going AWOL, you certainly can do so if you choose.

I’m not encouraging any of us to abandon our work; far from it. What I’m encouraging is for each of us to own our work.

We are each working by choice, a free decision made by our responsible selves. And we cannot blame others for our own choices.

So what if we choose to go to work today, instead of resentfully going in because we have to?

Peace begins with pause,