Forebes: Ten Happiest Jobs.

[got2luvjc]

A healthy balance between "work" and "enjoyment" is very necessary. I too have a job that I dont particularly enjoy, but I need it right now to make sure the bills get paid. Eventually I'd like to change job fields but for now I just need to stay put and keep doin' my thing.

[bernadette d]

Priests' Housekeeper ranks very highly IMHO

[mortify]

[quote name='rachael' timestamp='1316378088' post='2306398']
My future MSW is the worst-paid degree.
[/quote]

I hate to say this, but don't you want to be practical as well? You don't want to be a starving artist.

[Slappo]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' timestamp='1316637490' post='2308247']
This is a respectable position, but in my opinion, life is much, much, much, much, much too short to spend most of my life doing something that I don't care for. This realization is why I am no longer an engineering major.
[/quote]

The thing is, life isn't about enjoying what I do or doing something that I care for. Life on earth is about attaining eternal joy in heaven, and the best way for me to get to heaven is to [b]fulfill my vocation[/b].

The bolded is where you really have to weigh your options and career choices. Will this career, although it provides for the material needs of my family, make me so miserable that I cannot serve my family after a long day of work? Is "the career of my dreams" a realistic goal, and can it provide for the material needs of my family? I think a lot of it will depend on the person at this point. Some people can care so little about how much they like/dislike their career that even a horrible job won't get them down and they'll still be able to be joyful and love their families well.

As for the "life is too short", it goes both ways. Life on earth is too short to be focussing so much on what will make me happy for the next 40 years, when I have an eternity with God that I should be aiming for.


A little perspective on where I'm coming from: I'm almost 25 years old, I have a bachelor's degree in something I probably won't ever use as a career, and I'm married with a growing family. I also have tons of student loans to pay off from a combined 7 years of private school between my wife and I. I got a position with the State doing accounting, and am on a path to continue getting promotions over the next few years that will allow my wife to stay home with our children, and allow us to pay off our student loans. Accounting and office work isn't my passion, but it is something that I am good at and do well. I would love to go consider other career options, but it isn't financially feasable for me to take a huge pay decrease to start a new profession or to quit working to go back to school. So although I don't enjoy my current career, my career is not my vocation, my wife and kid is. If a good opportunity arises in the future for me to switch into a career field I might enjoy more that would still provide for my family I would most definitely consider it though.

Edited October 26, 2011 by Slappo