#aplang16workandplay

Values on Work and Play

When i first heard this question i was a little confused but i usually am so once i read it again it started to make a little more sense but i could be wrong about it so idk. When i first read this i was like “ what values” because a lot of the time we allow values to violated for work and sports. I mean there are so many celebrities like Sean Penn and charlie sheen and who have done such awful things but because of the their work we excuse it ? Or we allow things that usually be considered immoral to because for work. I think we get so swept up in work and sports we stop looking at things the way we usually world 

Now let’s answer the original question! I think that sports are extremely important for children and teenagers because it shows them what the real world is actually like. Children who play sports learn to be competitive, to practice, to put in a lot of effort, to create friendships, and to be louder. This does not necessarily mean that children who do not partake in sports as children will lack these qualities, but that these qualities will possibly be more prominent in those who do participate in sports. Sports help to prepare teenagers for the future because it forces us to learn that the only way to succeed is by working hard and communicating (with refs, coaches, fellow sports players, etc?). Sports help us see our own strengths and helps us apply them to our own life. The strengths that we learn from these activities help us choose what we want to do for the rest of our lives.

I think that people see work and play as two different things, and that they shouldn't always be so.  We play to learn behaviors, that's a fact.  We learn how to interact with other people, and how to follow (or not follow) the rules, and we learn how to communicate through playing.  Humans aren’t the only species to learn social behavior through playing.  Dolphins, horses, and all other primates do.  Through playing we learn who we are and how we want to act and present ourselves to others.  We see play as fun and doing what you want.  Sports, however get more serious.  With rules and clearly defined positions we often learn our place in the team.  Sports teach us how to find our niche and how to work in a group.  Working as an adult is putting those skills into practice, and even developing those skills more.  I hate it though when people hate their jobs.  Like, if you hate it so much the why are you doing it???? There are a million other things for you to do, and just because it is easier to sit in this bullshit job doesn't mean you should.  Society today normalizes hating your job through the media.  Its not normal to hate your job, you should pick something you LIKE doing.  Just because we’re taught through sports to find a spot and stay in it doesn't mean you cant find a spot that better suits you.  If you suck at pitching, youre not going to pitch anymore.  If you hate pitching, the same thing is true.  You’ll find something else to play, and thats how it should be in the working world too.   

In America, our values our on work and play are extreme. We strive to be the best in both fields because of the pressure from outsiders, like parents or peers. This pressure causes most of the stress in our daily lives.

Well according to google, play is when you are doing something for fun rather than for a serious purpose, and work is doing something to achieve a purpose or gain income. I think work is more valued in our society because of the monetary values it stresses. Work today gets you money, and everyone wants money because it is used for everything.  Everything we work and live for is to get money because we think it will make us happy.  I think the values of play are undervalued compared to those of work, because they aren’t seen as having any physical benefit, like work does.  Play however encourages healthy emotional habits, and if people enjoy it it makes them happier than work could ever make them. Also because work is seen as something you have to do to live, it becomes a burden, so play is a nice way to chill out. WOrk is also seen as a more adult thing, while the very word “play” seems to indicate a childlike or juvenile behavior.  Oftentimes when someone is playing, they aren’t taken seriously like if someone were singing or dancing or hula hooping people wouldn’t recognize it as their job really, they’d just blow it off.  If people really love something and they like doing it/playing it’s damaging when others don’t recognize it as something serious.  So instead of pursuing the things we really love, we pursue money and get boring jobs and work until we retire and die.  

 Personally, I see myself as a better person when working and playing sports. I know I learn so much out of the situations I’m in and for the most part, I believe the values improve the outlook on life.

For me, when I heard this question I thought of the difference types of jobs in our society today. I believe “work and play” is a choice for any specific person. due to the fact that if some experience “all work and no play”, those people often have no fun at their jobs. Which doesn’t sound like the ideal life, because most of your time is spent at your job, so you might as well enjoy it. I believe you need to find a balance between both work and play. Although sports are often associated with playing a game, this is what athletes do for a living. Just like any other job, athletes probably are not a big fan of their job at times. Like when they have to go through intense conditioning beforehand in order to prepare for a game. Same goes for an office job, people have to go through weeks of training before being placed in a certain position. The experience provided by both play and work results in how our brain develops and processes information later on. For example, if a coach yells at you that your form is off, you will probably be more aware of it, until eventually your body adjusts to it. Both work and play teaches one discipline and experience needed for their everyday lives.