Usually hard work is highly valued. That's how I grew up...on a farm, where hard work was just something everyone did, and it happened to be fortunate that maybe someone would pay you for that work. But if they didn't pay you, you'd do it anyway--because hard work is just what one does.
Sometimes, I've noticed, hard work is a sign, an indication that things are not well. I've been in relationships where I'd think to myself, like Boxer in George Orwell's book Animal Farm, "I will work harder."
Almost invariably working harder wasn't an answer to a problem, but rather a sign to be listened to. Something in the structure of my life isn't supporting things being easy. They're not easy, they're hard. I know they're hard because they require hard work.
Usually my ideal answer isn't working harder, it's doing something different. Stopping work and taking inventory. Sitting still. Being quiet. Doing something entirely different. Working less. Most important, not repeating the same behavior and expecting different results.
Maybe what I'm getting at is this: doing something different is hard work.
