Live to Work or Work to Live?

I was wondering today which was better.

On the one hand, to work to live, I've understood to be the credo of Millennials such as myself.  In a departure from previous generations, the argument for working to live places life first, that a job is something tolerated as a necessity to fund social activities and leisure time.  And this makes sense because after all, isn't there more to life than simply waking up in the morning and heading to a job which you, in all likelihood, can stand but don't particularly  like?  Shouldn't life be more focused on living, on our experiences, our adventures?  By working to live, we no longer define ourselves by what we do.  Although it's still often used as the answer to "So, what do you do?".  A job, we argue, is something we do, not what we are.  And by placing life as the priority, gives us a greater chance to explore who we are and how we matter.  A job is just something that pays the bills.

On the flip side, however, living to work, we could make the argument that our career is exactly who we are. More time is spent working than anything else (sleep may edge it out here...) and who we are is defined by what we do everyday.  To that end, to have the goal of living to work provides an intrinsic motivation to pursue your passions professionally.  To engage in the very experiences others may only find on the weekends.  To contribute to society in a meaningful way.  To do the best job we can in the job we're in.  To make a difference.  Here the priority is on the work: the goal is live everyday doing something in a positive, meaningful way, recognizing the value in a days work, and making a difference at the end of the day.

I work as a challenge course facilitator, which means I have the opportunity to interact with hundreds of people every year, and I hope that by the end of our time together I have been able to help them learn something about themselves and those around them, even if they themselves don't recognize it.  And that gives me great joy and pride in my work, to the point where I may just argue that I live to work.  But it's still only a part of who I am...

So is one better than another?  Alas, I don't have the answer.

Of course, knowing my penchant for revisiting previous posts, I'm sure I'll have a follow up before too long.