When I think about Sisyphus, I am reminded of the words to a song that I was taught by my parents when I was a child. It goes like this:.
" Put your shoulder to the wheel; push along.
Do your duty with a heart full of song,.
We all have work, let no one shirk.
Put your shoulder to the wheel".
How prophetic that lesson was to me. It was as if they were warning me about the life I would have ahead. To do my work with a glad heart. .
The underlying theme in the Myth of Sisyphus is one that can be used by and should be taught to us all. No matter the task, attitude is everything. There are things that we must do each and every day that we may not want to do, but we have to for such reasons as responsibility, consequences or survival to name a few. How we chose to do them is entirely up to us. We can do them begrudgingly or happily, either way has their own set of consequences. .
One can think of or look at Sisyphus as a beast of burden just plodding up and down the mountain each and every day oblivious (through the pain and anguish of his task) to his surroundings; to his choice. This is not so. Sisyphus, as we came to know him, is aware. Albert Camus even tells us so, "But when he had seen again the face of this world, he no longer wanted to go back to the infernal darkness". I look at Sisyphus as a man who is happy with what he is doing and because he is happy, he doesn't see his rock/trial as such a hard thing. Why is he happy? There are many reasons. It could be that he is a creature of habit. Our primitive natures (from early childhood) is that we like repetition, we like routines. For example, when a child is taken out of their normal daily routine, watch out! A child finds security in knowing what lies ahead in their day; no surprises. Sisyphus could be happy that he is comfortable with his situation. He knows what to expect, he has a set routine--there are no surprises in his day nor will there be.