What Can the Story Of King Midas Teach Us About Loving Work and Life

Why do sick people work until they are demoted or fired? Why don’t they take a break? Some even overwork until they die. The Japanese call it 過労死 “Karōshi,” meaning overwork-death.

Midas wasn’t just a rich and powerful king. He was also just like us — an everyday worker. Everything he touched turned into gold. He became the most productive worker in the world! But at the end he died terribly, a Karōshi victim.

Our society demands productivity, and we inherit that demand as our own, even as we harm our lives. Midas turned olive trees into gold, and we turn rainforests into barren fields. Midas turned food into gold, and we poison our fish with mercury, ruin our crops with pesticides. Midas turned his wife and children into gold, so we destroy our own relationships.

People judge Midas for his greed. But who doesn’t fancy a little alchemy? His vice was rather ignorance. He didn’t know he would turn the living into dead. If he had known better, he would have chosen wiser. We are the same. We just want to work hard and succeed, nothing greedy about that. The problem comes when we don’t know when to stop. Instead of resting, we overwork. Instead of pursuing protection, we resist it. So many of my clients have told me, if they had known better, they would have taken a medical leave sooner.

(Excerpts from my upcoming book: The Art and Law of Rest: A Legal Guide to Paid Medical Leave for Mental Health)