I ride for fun and to stay healthy.
Work isn't necessarily a bad thing. If it is, you probably need to change jobs! I've done lots of different things for a living, but have always been attracted to those things that are more like play than work. Farm & ranch real estate brokerage, aircraft broker, marina general manager. All were/are careers that I enjoyed so much it didn't seem like work.
Like riding a bike. We invest effort, but it's so darned fun that there's no work to it (except for those times we ride uphill into the wind on a cold day).
I say, live each day like it's our last. Do what you enjoy. And inflict more happiness on your fellow humans than misery.
And for God's sake... DON'T SMOKE!