My point was that 'work', doing things that are not leisure (although that distinction can be vague) is not limited to what we generally mean when we say 'job' (paid labor). The role of a mother comes to mind, or retirees who spend time volunteering.

Anyways, just clearing that up. I agree that the recipe to happiness probably includes a hefty dose of 'what we do for others'. I don't think I've met a person who was truly happy just slacking off and doing things just for themselves.

> Work is what we do for others.

And since others do so much for me, it's only fair that I do something for them.

Labor used to be directly related to our ability to feed ourselves (when everyone was a farmer / hunter gatherer). No work = no eat.

Nowadays, we have more productivity as a species if we do specific labor instead in order to feed ourselves, but the premise is the same. No work = no eat (at least until you have enough savings/investments to afford not to work). At least until theoretically automation takes all of the jobs.