“Why Are People So Lazy?” (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why are people so lazy?“

People who are lazy generally lack purpose in their lives.

Our nature is a desire to enjoy. This desire manifests in two directions: either we have a goal and strive in order to achieve it, enjoying the fruit it bears, or we run away from pain, and avoiding suffering is what we consider as enjoyable.

In order to gain the impetus to progress in life, where we do more than merely run away from pain, we need to establish what our purpose in life is, and it needs to be worth the effort to achieve.

There is generally no success in any field without effort.

Effort is a prerequisite for success because contributing to something makes us value the results. If we were given something without first having invested effort, we would not know how to enjoy it. However, in order to have the constant fuel to strive, the goal needs to be important.

I have been studying and teaching the wisdom of Kabbalah for over 40 years. The immense importance of the purpose of the study provides me with the motivation to work day and night. It is because investing in this work means investing in the human soul. Therefore, the efforts that I apply, even though they might be tough and unpleasant at times, bring me tremendous joy.

The same goes for all people. If we find a goal that suits our inner request, it will give us the fuel we need to work determinantly in order to achieve it, and experience no tiredness on the way.

The main challenge is in setting the goal.

Our desires and yearnings are affected by various social influences. Unfortunately, the enormous amount of redundant information filling our culture extinguishes our true internal aspiration, replacing it with cheap and artificial pleasures.

Nevertheless, everybody has a chance to exit this vicious circle. How? Ironically, it is with the help of laziness.

Laziness gives us an opportunity to slow down from the rat race and ask ourselves whether our regular engagements really lead to something worthwhile, whether our ultimate goal is correct, and whether we have enough importance and motivation to continue. If not, then we can examine the ways to change our goals and actions.