How to Read “If you work, it will turn”
Hatarake ba mawaru
Meaning of “If you work, it will turn”
“If you work, it will turn” means that if you keep working diligently, your financial situation will improve and your life will become stable.
The word “turn” here refers to money and resources circulating smoothly, creating a healthy economic state.
This proverb is used for people facing financial difficulties or feeling anxious about their future.
It teaches the importance of continuing to work steadily without getting caught up in immediate problems. It’s also used to encourage people who tend to be lazy.
Even today, this teaching is accepted as an unchanging truth.
Even if your income is temporarily low, continuing to work builds trust. Eventually, job opportunities increase and income stabilizes.
This proverb shows the cause-and-effect relationship between effort and economic results. It’s understood as practical life wisdom.
Origin and Etymology
There are no clear written records about the origin of “If you work, it will turn.” However, we can make interesting observations from the structure of the phrase.
Let’s focus on the word “turn” in this expression.
From the Edo period through the Meiji era, “turn” was widely used in phrases like “money turns” or “business turns.” These meant that economic activities were progressing smoothly.
Just as a waterwheel keeps turning with the power of water, working makes life and business move forward without stagnation.
In Osaka and Edo, which flourished as merchant towns, “turn” was a symbol of business prosperity.
When a store’s finances were healthy, people said “the store is turning.” When management became difficult, they said it “stopped turning.”
The leading theory is that “If you work, it will turn” was born within this merchant culture as practical teaching.
It contains wisdom rooted in common people’s life experience. If you keep working seriously, financial comfort will surely come and life will stabilize.
This wasn’t just spiritual advice. It was a practical proverb that clearly showed the cause-and-effect relationship between working and economic prosperity.
Usage Examples
- I’m worried because work has been slow lately, but I have to believe that if you work, it will turn, and keep doing what I can now
- He’s worked without rest since he was young, so his life embodies the spirit of if you work, it will turn
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “If you work, it will turn” contains deep insight into the essential relationship between labor and reward in human society.
Why have humans connected work with prosperity since ancient times?
It’s because labor isn’t just hard toil. It’s a creative act that generates value.
People work to make something, provide it to someone, and receive compensation for living. This circulation has been the foundation of human society.
Behind the passing down of this proverb lies human psychology driven by anxiety.
In times when tomorrow’s livelihood wasn’t guaranteed, people constantly faced economic uncertainty. In such circumstances, “If you work, it will turn” wasn’t mere optimism.
It was reliable hope based on experience.
What’s interesting is that this proverb doesn’t say “you’ll become rich quickly.”
The expression “turn” implies that circulation develops over time. In life, results don’t always come immediately.
However, by continuing to work, a flow will eventually emerge. This spirit of patience and trust is the core of this proverb.
When AI Hears This
If left alone, the universe inevitably moves toward disorder. This is the second law of thermodynamics.
An organized room naturally becomes messy, hot coffee cools down, and buildings deteriorate. Entropy, or disorder, continues to increase over time. This is an iron rule of the universe.
However, when humans work, a phenomenon occurs that defies this flow.
Cleaning a messy room, repairing a broken machine, cultivating a wild field—these are all acts that locally reduce entropy.
Physicist Schrödinger described life as “an existence that feeds on negative entropy.” In other words, the act of working is an endeavor that directly challenges the universe’s fundamental principle.
However, we cannot completely break the law.
When humans create order, they burn sugar inside their bodies and release heat. As compensation for local order, they discharge greater entropy into their surroundings.
When calculated, it always comes out negative.
The essence of “If you work, it will turn” actually lies in this tug-of-war with physical laws.
The moment you stop working, the overwhelming force of increasing entropy attacks, and everything heads toward collapse.
To keep turning, you must continue resisting the laws of the universe.
Lessons for Today
What “If you work, it will turn” teaches us today is the value of continuing without rushing.
In modern society, there’s a strong tendency to demand immediate results.
We see others’ success on social media and sometimes feel anxious that we’re being left behind. However, this proverb reminds us of something important.
Economic stability doesn’t arrive overnight.
Daily steady efforts accumulate, and eventually a “turning” state emerges. Even if today’s work doesn’t lead to big income tomorrow, it’s never wasted.
Your work is definitely accumulating as your credibility, skills, and relationships.
What matters is continuing to face the work in front of you sincerely.
You don’t need to be perfect. Just don’t give up and keep going.
That continuity will eventually become the driving force that “turns” your life. Even if it’s hard now, the day will surely come when your future self thanks you for continuing to work.
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