Why Labor Day could be the best and most meaningful holiday of the year (or should be)

Anyone out there know why we celebrate Labor Day?

According to the United State Department of Labor website, it’s “…a  creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

So initially, it was a crucial recognition and reminder of the importance of the laborers of this country, created in a time when they weren’t valued much more than a horse. 

The first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882.  Crowds gathered, speeches were made, parades where marched in and watched by thousands.

Things are different now.  The reason Labor Day is celebrated is because most of us get a day away from laboring. 

Which is a pretty great reason to celebrate.

I recently had a debate with a friend about which is better:

•Work at a time-consuming job that takes you away from your family, is not all that enjoyable or fulfilling, but financially rewarding, which allows you nice things to live in and drive and wear, and nice, vacations and a comfortable, potentially early retirement.

•Or a little more flexible, pretty fulfilling, still hard-working but not crushing job, where you have more control over your life but need to stretch to make ends meet, get less nice cars and houses and few if any vacations, driving and staying in motels along the way, and working later and longer into your life.

The answer? 

Whichever you think is better, of course. 

We all make our own choices. We all have different things we want to get out of work.  And we all work differently. 

I ascribe to the theories laid out in Rework, one of my personal bibles.  I’ve seen co-author Jason Fried speak and I’m buying everything he’s selling.  Which, basically, is “Build it, and they will come.”

When it comes to work, one thing is undeniable and unarguable:  We all need to work.  Which means we all need time away from work. 

So the fact that there’s a day expressly designed for us to not work is pretty awesome and should be celebrated.

Hope you did absolutely nothing but not work yesterday.