Why do we do what we do and more importantly, why do we avoid what we do?
Kids are generally motivated by their parents to complete tasks. With the time honored methods of cajoling, bribery, threats and promises, most work assigned gets done to a reasonable level of satisfaction.
How does that translate into adult motivations for what must get done before the sun goes down each night?
I mop the floor so people won't think I selected dog print tiles. Although that is a mighty tempting thought... dog print tiles... but I digress.
I do the laundry because, frankly, I love the smell of the fabric softener. I love the feel of a still warm towel on my wet skin. I love the fact that I don't smell like I just completed a manure roll in my clothing.
I don't do dishes.
I don't even feel ashamed about this particular bit of revelation. I don't do them unless I want to. My wonderful husband does them. Hey, I figure if I'm out mowing the yard, then that's a pretty good trade off.
I make the bed because to not make the bed seems slack and tacky.
But the spiritual motivations for life are sometimes harder to discern.
Box-checking is a popular term for going through the spiritual motions without any real sense of accomplishment other than having done the deed.
That doesn't have to be all bad because I don't believe every single thing in life is a 'hip-hip-hooray' kind of moment. Some things we do because they simply have to be done.
But some things have leeway.
Like when to iron a shirt.
I had a dorm mother who insisted that if you didn't iron things and hang them up the very moment they were washed that you were a complete and utter slacker lacking in domestic skill. Okay. Sold.
But I usually have a basket of shirts awaiting ironing and I get to them eventually. I actually know people who don't iron until they are planning to wear something because they LIKE to slip them on warm from the iron. Is that slack or simply a love of hot creases and warm pleating?
What drives us to do things? Do I mow my yard because my neighbors mowed theirs? Maybe. But I like the smell of fresh cut grass even if it makes me sneeze.
Is a sudden desire to do housework from the back of the house to the front that is motivated by the pronouncement that you are having guests less good than a the daily hours spent toiling for only yourself? I have no answers.
But I do know that some things are inviolable motivators for me.
The safety and well-being of family members.
The absolute comfort of knowing that I have done all I could do to try and teach the basics of survival to the next generation...?
All I know is that we seem to be slipping into a worldwide calamity where guilt and greed are being used as motivational talking points.
Neither works for very long because guilt only propels us so far before we give up in disgust. Greed only makes us lonely and sad in the long run because there isn't ever enough of the substance of life to make us happy in the way we think we should be.
Like the man who is spending 35 MILLION dollars to ride into space again. While he may have a temporary happiness, think of what that money could be applied to that could have eternal consequences - schools, libraries, hospitals, freshwater wells in third world countries, money for medical care to the hopeless and forgotten and the reward of endless smiles from generations who may never know his name but will never forget his kindness.
Oh well, just thinking via typing today...the dryer buzzer is calling me now. Time to motivate my buttocks off this chair and go fold some clothes.
