Burning Daylight

I don't recall ever having heard of the Protestant Work Ethic until a class in college.  However, when I heard of the concept, I immediately recognized it.  My parents owned a furniture and antique store.  My paternal grandparents owned a small vegetable and chicken farm.  Any time I asked Dad if I could sleep in a little late, he would say that, "I was burning daylight."  When I would stay with my grandparents and want to stop picking vegetables before dusk, Grandpa would remind me that if I quit, "You'll be burning daylight."  I'm either at or past the age when many retire.  However, when I think of retiring, I feel guilty because I know that I'd be "burning daylight."  Traits have a way of getting deep into one's life via family observations and comments that are catchy, often repeated and significantly forming.