THE GRIND GOD IS A FALSE IDOL AND WE HAVE TO TAKE OUR LIVES BACK.
Do not feel guilty of having a lunch break. Go ahead and use your days of rest.
By Philip Janet Kavutha
Each generation has its idol, and we are no exception, ours simply wears a hoodie, has a laptop, and preaches productiveness like the Bible. The hustle culture has now become the loudest, the most insistent religion of contemporary life, it has taught us that unless we are grinding every
second then we are not doing the right thing. However, now I think that this so-called god of the grind is just another empty idol that requires sacrifices this leaves us burned out, disengaged and empty.
The culture of hustle exists on a perilous pledge, a risky promise; sacrifice the present and one day you will have gotten an unbelievable future. It could be the startup founder boasting of consecutive all-nighters, but more often it could be the influencer who wants you to make
everything you do a side hustle, regardless of the consequences later, as it will make you a successful person today. But to the majority of us that later does not come. Rather they are left in a treadmill that is meant to make them run and not win. It is a system that feeds off of our fatigue.
Worse, the extent to which this attitude has penetrated our self-image. The concept of busyness has been repackaged as identity. The purpose of productiveness has been confused with purpose. We have gotten used to quantifying our worth by the number of hours we do not sleep, the
number of times we open our emails, or the number of tasks we have finished before sunset. And when we slacken even a little, we are afraid of being thought unambitious or lazy. And this is not living; it is acting.
However, the loss that is the most agonized by hustle culture does not lie in our calendars but in our life. It robs the magic of mundane things: a bedtime story skipped to write a report, a walk to the beach abandoned as it would not make any money, a passion project thrown away but not going viral. The richness of life is there in those stoppages, the sterile areas that hustle culture attempts to purge of us. As Anne Lamott manages to say, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you”. This empowers the need to take a break to re-
evaluate and get perspective just as a plug-in/plug-out can resolve most problems. It implies that the ability to break the routine of life and the incessant requirements that await you can refresh your mind and body, as you come back with fresh energy, vision and concentration like a mind and body re-boot as an optimized life is a life slowly drained.
Even the Bible focuses on the truth against this false gospel of ceaseless hustle. Matthew 11:28 gives an invitation that goes against culture: “Come to me all you weary and burdened, and I shall give you rest.” In a culture where burnout is one of the most exalted conditions, rest is a
kind of belief and rebellion.
That is why not to grind means not to lose it means be free. Rest is no laziness it is curing. Boundaries do not mean one is weak, that is a show of self-respect. The success in actual life is being a fed brain, a healed body and a happy soul, not through a constant exhaustion. The real success is not working 80 hours a week till you fall on your knees. It is about creating a sustainable life with space of work, passion, rest and connection. The most extreme measure you can take in a society which is obsessed with being busy is to simply do nothing at all.
Make a decision in favour of rebellion. Switch off the work notifications during night. Let your hobby stay a hobby. Do not feel guilty of having a lunch break. Go ahead and use your days of rest. Recall that your value has never been and will never be quantified in terms of output. It is time to overthrow the grind god permitably. Your life is out there take it back.
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