Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has held a job they hate. A job that drains their energy like a soul-sucking sponge and delivers it into the bowels of hell, or a boss whose unreasonable, selfish arrogance sends Donald Trump cowering in inadequacy.
Religion offers an easy “out” of a bad job, in much the same way that it offers an easy out for a bad life: afterwards, things will be better! After you die (if you are good) then you go to Heaven! And everything will be wonderfully perfect ALL THE TIME!!!! Television works much the same way, in fact: Miserable at work? Don’t worry, tonight your favorite show is on! I figure this is essentially telling people not to live their own lives, but as escapism it is effective: how many office drones do you know?
It is one thing to work at a job in order to finish school or write that book or home school your kids or get out of a bad financial place. It is entirely another when you keep getting up every day to a job you hate, wondering where your life is going, and trying to pretend like you aren’t really there. The escapism kicks in an people end up finding “God”, World of Warcraft, the Sims, or TV. They give up their soul at work, then give it up again at home. I do not think people really want to, otherwise there would not be such cracking sales for bibles and self-help books, but they do not see many avenues of escape.
But escape is not the right mindset to have. Optimism is. It is better than TV or a god. Escapism is giving up control of what is truly the only thing that is yours: your life. Optimism brings the focus back to yourself; I think a crucial part of optimism is enlightened self interest, and quite honestly, without it, you can be as happy as you like but you will never feel fulfilled. Optimism is not about being happy in every miserable situation you are in, or being grateful for the crap your boss dumps on you. Optimism consists of looking for opportunities to improve your life, and being grateful for the help you are getting when you need it (a job to pay the bills, or to let you attend college, or health insurance for your kids). The religious call these “blessings” but they are not bestowed upon you by some supernatural woo-woo; they are manifestations of the perspective you bring to your life. If you are optimistic, then your blessings unfold before you, dear godless atheist that you are.
A soul sucking job is never fun, and optimism cannot change your situation overnight. Atheistic Optimism wipes your eyes clean and let you see what you are doing and why, and helps you cope with the bullshit you have to bear. If that sounds too difficult, just riddle me this: what is more difficult than living a life you hate?
