A tourist once got an insight into life from an old native who refused to sell him the twenty strings of onions he had for sale, even though the tourist offered him top dollar for the lot. ‘Isn’t that what you’re here for?’ he asked. The old man said, ‘No, I’m here to live my life. I love this market. I love to have friends come by and talk about their babies and their crops. This is my life and for that I sit here all day long and sell my twenty strings of onions. But if I sell them all to one customer, then my day is ended and I have lost the life I love.’
It reminds me of people who resent having to get up and go to work, but then find themselves bereft when they no longer have a job to go to. It’s why the Bible says, ‘Eat and drink and find satisfaction in your work. This is the gift of God.’