What is the root of motivation?  Why do we have a desire to act?  Even when I am relaxing and doing nothing it really means I am doing something I enjoy, like reading a book or watching a show.

So I wonder

Is the desire to be doing things, except when we are sleeping,  built into our genetic code.  Even meditation is considered an activity, that is, something you do.

I believe the basic reason we keep ourselves busy is hereditary.  What we actually do to keep ourselves busy is related to the results of the activity.  When we do something, the purpose we do it is to achieve some result,  and that result is the basic motivation.

For me though the really interesting part is in general humans want to be occupied with some activity.

Sometimes I think I would just like to vegitate and do nothing.  During my waking hours I find this is difficult to do.

Retire and die

Many studies have shown that on retiring from a lifetime of work, those who don’t keep active tend to die sooner. These study results just reinforce the importance of keeping yourself busy.

There is a basic desire built into human nature to keep active and it is to our detriment to ignore it.