Do what you love

Fran101

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#21
I believe that since MOST of your life is going to spent during work.. it shouldn't be something that makes you UNHAPPY.
Now, that certainly doesn't mean everyday is pure bliss either (sadly, professional netflix watching and eating is not yet a recognized position) but I believe in finding a happy medium between a job that pays the bills, and a job that makes you feel good. And most importantly, a job with PEOPLE who make you feel good.

While pursuing a deepest passion might not be in the cards for me, I do believe in finding a job I enjoy. I am not going to spend 7-9 hours a day unhappy and stressed and just living for the weekend/days off. I ****ing refuse.

Some days might feel like just WORK...but overall, I do believe in finding a job with people who you like, doing something you find enjoyable/challenging/something that isn't bad.
 
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#22
You know, I really loved working with jobs, and if certain things align I'll probably be back into it in the next few months, but for the first time in a while I have a non-animal related job, not like any thing I've ever done before, and I love it. It does not stress me out in the slightest, my coworkers are awesome, management rules, loads of cool perks, etc. If this other job ever comes up I would likely not completely leave this job.
 

~Jessie~

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#23
I believe that since MOST of your life is going to spent during work.. it shouldn't be something that makes you UNHAPPY.
Now, that certainly doesn't mean everyday is pure bliss either (sadly, professional netflix watching and eating is not yet a recognized position) but I believe in finding a happy medium between a job that pays the bills, and a job that makes you feel good. And most importantly, a job with PEOPLE who make you feel good.

While pursuing a deepest passion might not be in the cards for me, I do believe in finding a job I enjoy. I am not going to spend 7-9 hours a day unhappy and stressed and just living for the weekend/days off. I ****ing refuse.

Some days might feel like just WORK...but overall, I do believe in finding a job with people who you like, doing something you find enjoyable/challenging/something that isn't bad.
This is how I feel as well. I do enjoy my job (most days haha) and I never dread going to work, but I'd much rather be at the beach or at home snuggled on the couch with my dogs :p

I'm the type of person who doesn't want to LOVE my job... my family and friends come first, and I'd never want to be at a job where I can't pry myself away from work. My dad was a workaholic when I was growing up and I never understood how he could choose to work long hours. I work to live, not the other way around.
 

Taqroy

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#24
I have things at home I love. I have passions I pursue after work and on the weekends. I have friends and social outlets. I need a job that pays me enough to enjoy them without stressing about money.
This.

I don't love my job. I'm bored and under-challenged. But it pays well and I almost never have to work over-time so I have plenty of time left over for family and hobbies. I know that I would get burnt out doing something I love 40+ hours a week.
 

Zhucca

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#25
I'm in with the crowd that doesn't need my job to be my passion. I work for money, and I follow where the money is. If I can find a high paying job and I can like/deal with it for the majority of the week, awesome. Bonus points for awesome co workers, challenging work, and under 50hr a week schedule.

I'm definitely 100 percent positive I don't want to work with dogs again. I love dogs, they're one of my favourite things in the world. However working with 60+ dogs every day was horrible. I loved it for the first two years and then just started to dread every day. Not every day was awful, some days were awesome. I mean, you can't beat lying on the floor with all those dogs surrounding you with love. I can't even really pinpoint all the reasons I got burnt out of the job. It was a combination of some really catty b***** co workers, badly behaved dogs (majority of them, actually) and low pay. The low pay was probably the biggest. I love my dog to pieces and can feel like I actually want to train with him without it being a chore now, which is the greatness of being out of dog daycare.

Now I've been in construction for 3 yrs, as a drywaller. I don't *LOVE* it, but I do like it quite a bit. I get a lot of job satisfaction from taping seeing the lovely, smooth, straight walls I can create. Oddly enough. The pay is fantastic, and I love all my co workers. Maybe that's just the contrast of an all female environment to a predominantly male one. I have a lot of fun every day I go to work. But it's hard labour and hard on my body.

That's why I'm going to school, I'm going to try for dentistry. I'm friends with my dentist and he lives the lifestyle I want to live. Dentistry combines a people orientated environment and science, two things I love. If I don't make the grades for dentistry, I'll do dental hygiene. I'll still do taping on the side, it's a valuable skill and adds a good amount of $$$ in my wallet.

But yeah, like someone else said. I work to live not live to work. If I can at least be content at a job, and not miserable, that's okay for me.
 

RBark

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#26
I wanted to add a comment here. Some people find it enjoyable to work in their passion, however that's not always the case.

Personally, even though I am very good at just about anything that involves tools or diagnosis, I don't work on my cars. Hell I don't even change my own oil. I love physical labor, but I do it for 8 to 14 hours a day, 5 to 7 days a week.

My car needs repairs or an oil change? Off to the shop it goes. I just don't want to deal with it. Same goes for some types of repair around the house. Sure, I'm more than capable of doing them. But jeez, I love what I do, but I don't want to do the same thing 16 hours a day! I want to spend my time doing other things too!

That's why I could never work with animals. Sure, I love animals. But if I spent 1/3 of my life with animals, I'd want to spend the other 1/3 doing something else with my life too.

One of my friends is a tour guide in Alaska. Thought it was the most fantastic job. He likes his job, a lot. But when he gets home, he wants to be home, be around people, and doesn't go hiking on his own very much anymore because he already does it so much for work.

So balance is important even when it's about the things you love.
 

Lyzelle

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#27
I do believe that work is work and you need to work when at work.
But I also believe that work shouldn't be miserable, your co-workers should be enjoyable to be around, and you should be overall happy. Just because work isn't party time, it doesn't mean it has to be miserable or an annoying grind.

I like my job. I'd happily work (and have happily worked) way past my due. I will pick up shifts, I'll stay after I've clocked out and continue helping out, I'll do anything I can to work...because I enjoy the atmosphere and the people. It's a simple enough job that has me mostly standing around (which is easy on my usually terrible health) and it has plenty of room for advancement and raises. I like my management, I like my co-workers. I feel appreciated. I get annoyed or have an angry day here or there, but there's never a time where I DREAD getting up and going to work....despite working with the public. That's sorta my ideal.
 

Southpaw

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#28
See working with animals hasn't made me feel any differently toward my own pets. What I do at work is entirely different from what I do with my dogs at home. Ie, we go for walks and play and train and snuggle, which is vastly different from manhandling and drawing blood and other pokey things. Hanging out with them after work is still relaxing - usually. :)

Working at a dog daycare though would probably be too much!
 

~Dixie's_Mom~

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#29
I think it depends on what you are doing. Some people's jobs are their passion. Some people work so that they can pursue their passion.

I have always been a firm believer in the idea of having a dream job and loving what you do every day, and I still believe that to an extent. But I also think that there are some passions that are better as hobbies. I think when you love something, sometimes making it your job ruins that love that you had for it. And it isn't worth that. However I think there is ALWAYS a way to enjoy your job. People who truly believe that work should be miserable, I feel extremely sad for. I love what I do. I work with kids every day. Is that my dream? No. But I love it. And I am able to make enough money to live and also do the things that ARE my passion like music, photography, being with my animals, spending time with my family, etc.
 

Buddy'sParents

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#30
I believe that since MOST of your life is going to spent during work.. it shouldn't be something that makes you UNHAPPY.
What Fran said. ;)

I love my job, but it is work and sometimes it's really hard and sometimes I want to pull my hair out and stomp my feet (I work with preschoolers :p) but I'm in a unique position of helping and changing lives. And of course that job isn't, and shouldn't be, easy. I work with special education preschoolers, so sometimes their futures really are in my hands and that is a lot of responsibility that I do not take lightly. I don't know why anyone would go to school (grad school, plus some) and then not follow through on their job prospects. I worked hard to get where I am and do what I'm doing and while I complain sometimes, I do love it and can see myself in it for a long time (politics and paperwork don't count! those things drive me crazy). :)
 

CaliTerp07

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#31
I've had both the "really stressful, really well paying" job (it consultant) and now the "more rewarding, crummy salary" job (middle school math teacher). There are plusses and minuses to both. I will say that I could not be a teacher if it weren't for my husband making decent money. The financial stress of a low paying job is something I couldn't handle. I generally enjoy what I do, but my true happiness comes from the things my salary affords me--traveling, agility trials, date nights, etc.

That said, as long as I can afford to do so, I'll stay teaching. It's definitely work, but it's work with a purpose which is something I personally need from a career.
 

Beanie

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#32
That said, as long as I can afford to do so, I'll stay teaching. It's definitely work, but it's work with a purpose which is something I personally need from a career.
I think that's what it comes down to. Not everybody needs that from their job (and that's perfectly fine.)

There also is something to be said about having a job you love but the pay sucking. And when you can't pay your mortgage or buy groceries and stuff, well, that wears on you even when you love what you do. If the pay didn't suck for the industry as a whole, I'd definitely be doing what I could to get back into radio... but it's not practical. I still miss it every day.
 

CaliTerp07

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#33
I think that's what it comes down to. Not everybody needs that from their job (and that's perfectly fine.)
Yeah, my husband doesn't need it at all. I'm a little envious of him, because he has so many high paying options out there that satisfy his mental needs. I have this "save the world" complex that really limits the types of jobs that are satisfying to me. My therapist will have a field day with me when we finally get to this topic.
 

Laurelin

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#34
Yeah that whole paying rent/mortgage/bills thing totally sucks. Life is expensive. I have a decent salary and I'm not sure how I'd survive on much less. At the least I'd probably have to cut out all dog/hobby stuff.
 

AmandaNola

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#35
Love what I do and I almost never feel like I'm working. I don't have the temperament for a typical 9-5 job, and I am definitely not the kind of person who can take having a boss. My job allows me to set my own hours, choose my own clients, build real relationships with them, and I love it.
 

noludoru

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#36
I am not going to spend 7-9 hours a day unhappy and stressed and just living for the weekend/days off. I ****ing refuse.
I want this. The car industry does not afford this.

I'm just grateful that I love my coworkers, I LOVE the cars I'm selling, and I get an extra day off this month for the one I didn't take last month. Who knows when I'll get to take it with us being so under-staffed, but I will.
 

Saeleofu

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#37
I think that's what it comes down to. Not everybody needs that from their job (and that's perfectly fine.)
It's fine if people don't want to like their job. What irritates me is when people say it's impossible for anyone to love their job, and if they love it, they're doing it wrong. I LOVE what I do. It's that simple. Yeah, it's hard work and the pay sucks. But I'll take that over being miserable every day for the rest of my life - and honestly, if I'm going to be miserable every day, why bother living at all? I've been in jobs where I wished I'd have some sort of medical crisis or even just ****ing DIE so I could get out. No thanks.

I'm fine making $25,000 a year (which is about what I can expect when I get a full time job in my field). That's nearly triple what I'm making now, so I'd really have nothing to complain about. I could live comfortably. I don't need a ton of fancy ****. If my parents raised 3 kids on $30,000 a year, I can live on my own for that amount.
 

CaliTerp07

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#38
It's fine if people don't want to like their job.

I'm fine making $25,000 a year (which is about what I can expect when I get a full time job in my field). That's nearly triple what I'm making now, so I'd really have nothing to complain about.
I think most people want to like their job. The difference is that some jobs give you a warm fuzzy "I did something important today" feeling, and others, while mentally stimulating/enjoyable, don't have that level of purpose attached to them.

I could not live on $25k here. $40k or less is considered poverty here and qualifies you for the free low income apartments in town. For a family of four, it's $60k.
 

skittledoo

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#39
Funny enough I was just talking about this the other day with one of my coworkers.

I have mixed feelings about my job. I make $14 an hour which is nothing out here in Northern VA as Cali stated and while I do love working with dogs.... I'm sacrificing the feeling of financial stability in doing so. Luckily Josh makes decent money, but we still don't have a lot.

I'm actually at a point in my life where I'm unsure of what I want to do anymore. I want to be a dog trainer.... I want to work with dogs forever, but at the same time I feel completely overwhelmed so much of the time. When I have 70+ dogs barking in my ear all day it can be hard after a while to go home and want to deal with my own dogs. I can't tell you how many times I've come home in recent months where I've ended up having Josh feed and walk the dogs because I'm just so exhausted of dogs all day long. It sucks feeling that way.

On the other hand I do love some of the dogs at my work and if I left I would miss them something terrible so like I said.... Mixed feelings and all.

I think I'm at a point though where I am planning to start looking for another job. I would even be ok working full time somewhere else that pays more and then work small part time hours at the dog daycare, but I don't know if my boss would go for that.
 

Laurelin

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#40
I would love to eventually have a day job and then work a few hours on nights/weekends training. But I'm a ways from that and need to get more training work on my own dogs first.

I really thought money would stretch further than it does. I have a decently paying job and live in a low cost of living area but things add up like you wouldn't believe. It seems this year was month after month of being in the hole with unexpected things needing large sums of money. Which is why I'm still in my shitty townhouse instead of buying a home. Sigh.
 

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