This week I had a conversation with someone regarding this matter. It was in their opinion that it's better to get a job where you can make lots of money, even if you don't like the job, because who really does like their job anyway? If you make lots of money then you will be able to afford to do the things that you do like, outside of working. You would be able to afford the lifestyle you want, maybe that means supporting a family or being able to travel.
Maybe I'm too much of a dreamer,
but I couldn't help but disagree with them.
This philosophy makes a lot of sense, and is probably the way that, what: 75%-95%? of people live their lives. Let's say you work 8 hours, 5 days a week, and get 8 hours of sleep every night. Out of a total 168 hours in the week, you are spending 96 hours either sleeping or working. Not to mention all the preparation and overtime that isn't factored in. And if you hate your job, you are therefore spending over 50% of your week doing something you hate - who wants that? Who would knowingly set themselves up for a life like that? Yeah, maybe it would mean you would have the money to afford your desired lifestyle, but what kind of desired lifestyle includes working a job you hate? Plus if you don't like your job - if you don't like how you spend your days - don't like how you are contributing to the society and to the world - then how can you fully love yourself? There's a pretty good chance that if you are doing something you don't like to do, just for the money, you won't be able to fully enjoy or appreciate those things you wanted to be able to afford anyway. Your crappy job will drain you mentally and physically so much that you won't have the energy left in those remaining 72 hours to enjoy anything to the fullest or make the most of your precious free time... chances are you will end up sitting around feeling bad about yourself, or dragging yourself out to do things when you'd rather be sitting.
If you go after what you love, at least you won't have to wonder what if once it's too late. I say
live life with no regrets, try everything once.
Even if you fail miserably, at least you tried and didn't let life defeat you before you even tried.
(You can always start over and get a job that you will hate, there are plenty out there!)
Chasing your dreams takes bravery. But if we're going after something we really want, there is really no good reason not to. Jobs are there for us to start at the bottom and work our way up. Say the practical choice would be to go into public relations, but your real love is cooking. You have real talent when it comes to cooking, you are curious and want to expand your knowledge and abilities. With public relations, all you want is a paycheck. You are much more likely to succeed doing something you WANT to do and have a passion for then something where all you really want is a paycheck (and in which field there are probably plenty of people who actually do like the work and would be competing against you). I think if you are going after whatever you love to do in life, whatever you believe in and support, whatever you think about and learn about in your free time, you shouldn't worry if you won't succeed at it, or that you won't be as happy as if you were making a lot of money. You will have enough interest in whatever it is that you could even revolutionize the current job market in that field and open up new research or new jobs or heck, you can do whatever you want because it's something you want to do and nothing will stop you.
Maybe money does rule the world, but that doesn't mean we can't make our own luck and shape our lives in a more favorable direction, instead of following the dot-to-dot that has already been set up and is being followed by those who aren't quite as brave as you.
Think about it.
photo originally uploaded by krillamy
