Moderation is a very beneficial characteristic to practice throughout life. Everything you do should be moderate. Even things that are essentially constructive can be dangerous in abundance. Exercising is a very healthy habit to recite daily, but in large amounts can lead to harmful side effects. In this same way, work is an obligation that most people complete daily but too much work can cause negative repercussions. .
Most of the American population work five days a week just to sustain. Working day after day for a minimum wage job is what society has made us accept. The world revolves around money, and to have money you must work. Some take this a little too literal. These people are called workaholics. Have you ever met someone who every time you see them they're always on the computer working? And if they aren't working they are just talking about working? It seems that society has just become so obsessed with materialistic things that we forget what life is actually about. Expensive cars, beautiful houses, and designer clothes are all starting to define us, and distracting us from the bigger picture. .
Workaholics place being on the top of the totem pole over all other commitments including family and friends. What they don't realize is that anyone can be replaced in the split of a second by thousands of eager workers hoping to take your position. In the book, Models for Writers, there is a narrative article called "The Company Man." This article is about a man named Phil who worked himself to death. On the day of his funeral this is what happened, "By 5:00 P.M. the afternoon of the funeral, the company president had begun, discreetly of course, with care and taste, to make inquiries about his replacement. One of three men. He asked around: "Who's been working the hardest?" (Goodman 453). Phil had spent his whole life working, and had even died because of it. The gentleman who was supposedly irreplaceable was already being replaced the day of his funeral.
