This thread is about choosing what to do in life.

I am currently working a job that I have no passion for but that pays very well and allows me to buy and do the things I like. I can also see a path that involves doing a job that would be fulfilling day to day but comparably very low paying.

There are ups and downs to both sides. Regardless of the stigma of materialism, being able to have and do nice things is important to me. One of the points of life is to have experiences and money definitely helps that. Being fulfilled and making a difference in the work that I do is also important to me. I want to have my cake and eat it too. But how?

I’d like to hear other peoples’ stories about similar life choices. Perhaps I can see a path from there.

__________________
1·618033988749894848204586834365638117720309179805 76286213544862270526046281890244970720720418939113 74

I'm someone who has had a good paying job for a long time. I've only had to work on average forty hours per week, and I really don't mind the work but after all those years I feel like I've only put money in stock holders' pockets. Many times I wish I had done something more . . . fulfilling. But then again, I've been able to have all the things I need and quite a few things I just wanted. So, what can I tell you? Not much. I see the good and bad of both sides of it. But, if you enter the low-paying (for now) field and strive to be the best you can be at it, it may open up better paying doors that are equally fulfilling.

Oh yeah, my life has had no plan whatsoever. I've blown this way and that in the wind. I sometimes wish I had chosen to head upwind at least once.

I'm retired. Here are my observations on jobs:

They tend to take over your life, no matter what they are. You can tell yourself that the work is unimportant, dull, pointless - whatever you want to say to minimize its effect upon you, but the job and the people at the job will always be on you mind. They will define your world if you let them. Most people don't have the discipline to "think about what you think about", so thoughts about the people and events at work are always popping into their heads, wherever they go.

Ask yourself if it's really the job that's keeping you from "doing what you really want to do". A person can overestimate what they would accomplish without a job being in the way. I noticed that when I retired. You can take what you accomplished in 4 hours of spare time on a weekday and project that you will accomplish 3 times as much in 12 hours of spare time. But that's a false projection. You won't want to work fo 12 hours as hard as you work for 3. (People don't realize how HARD they work when they work in their spare time.)

I think the most common case is for a person to feel that they cannot accomplish what they want to do alone. So they want a job where people are helping them and encouraging them. People generally want to have a mentor and/or be a mentor. Finding such a job situation is an extremely rare event. Don't miss it if the opportunity arises, but don't plan your life on finding it. If "doing what you want to do" depends on finding sympathetic and supportive people, you might be out of luck.

__________________
"Never let the task you are trying to accomplish distract you from the study of computers."

My goal is to get a massive plot of land and take all the dogs that are meant to be put down from pounds and give them another chance. I also want to take dogs with problems and rehabilitate them (Similar to what Cesar Millan does, the aussie version of the DPC).

Setting something like that up, on the scale I'd like to do it, would cost a lot. I can see paths towards the goal and baby steps, but like i said, the initial (and long) stages would require a massive pay cut.

Stay in the oil and gas mining industy to get the money to set it up longer term .. or leave the industy and work with dogs now ... meaning setting up the actual goal is much much further down the track.

__________________
1·618033988749894848204586834365638117720309179805 76286213544862270526046281890244970720720418939113 74

That's an admirable goal Josh. My wife and I do that with cats now, but on a much smaller scale, and it costs. Can you do both? (You know, don't quit your day job.) Do the dog rehab on a smaller scale until you can see your way clear to do it full time?

That's pretty much what I'm trying to figure out. There are lots of costs involved and the need for staff.

Lately I've been wondering about my life path though (hence the thread). Am I on the right one? How do i have it all. heh. All I know is .. i am calm and happy when around animals.

__________________
1·618033988749894848204586834365638117720309179805 76286213544862270526046281890244970720720418939113 74

Hi Josh, at the age of 39 I decided to "retire" and focus on experiencing life. For seven years I sailed around the world (1 & 1/2 times) and I will never regret the time or the experiences I had while LIVING.

Nothing last forever though - and I'm back to working for a living (read "existing") But in the lucky country.... Another day in paradise.

Live large - take life in big chunks

__________________
Gone Sailing

Wow, Josh. Your dilemma sounds exactly like mine. I've made two attempts to re-career myself (into geology and law); both failed. Now, I'm just looking to pay off mortgage debt and retire as soon as possible, preferably somewhere with few people.

A rescued cat ranch sounds good.

ETA: I'll add that as part of my 'plan', I decided that as long as I'm woking this job I don't like, I might as well get paid the most I can. So I took a supervisor position, which was something I'd been offered for a while but eschewed. While I do like cats, I hate herding them.

I was in exactly the same situation 30 years ago. Bored out of my skull by an office job (software) which provided no satisfaction, but so much money I didn't know what to do with it. A key moment for me was when I bought a luxury holiday, and the wife asked me how much it had cost. I didn't know, in the travel agency I had forgotten to ask. That was a turning point. It seemed to me I had two choices:

a) sit it out for 15 years, retiring at 50 with enough of a pension not to need another job

b) give it all up on the spot and do something 'meaningful'.

My fear was the possibility of dying young just before retirement, and the immense frustration of having sat in the office for so long only to finish up the richest person in the graveyard. So I decided to give it up and do something which involved ten times the effort for a tenth of the income.

Now, I am still alive, but in a financially unenviable situation, having a few friends who are much better of financially who opted for the easier office-sitting alternative.

Which of us did the right thing? I don't really know, other than having the conviction that sitting in the same office for two to three decades was not for me personally.

__________________
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

I think people need to be much more accepting of the concept of working for a living. It's especially hard for young people to accept that they're expected to work for the next 40 years, after being told many times while growing up, "Reach for your dreams!" Really, how many people are able to make a living by following their dream? One out of 20? Work is just work, and someone has to do it. Think of all the people who do work for you - building your home, making your clothes, growing your food, teaching your children - even stocking the shelves in your grocery store. Should they all be doing something they love instead? Plain old work should get a lot more respect than it does. I always say "Thanks" to the supermarket cashiers, because without them I couldn't even get my groceries.

For those of you with cell phones, you can thank Graham, too; he's on the other end of the customer service line. A very important, very unappreciated job. Excitingly, he neither gets paid very much nor likes what he does. On the other hand, I have been unable to figure out a job he would like, nor can he. And given unemployment, there's no good chance he's going to find one any time soon.

__________________
Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

That's how I'd describe myself, though I'm still a few years shy of 30 and thus have a long ways to go still (hopefully).

Josh: I wrestle with this all the time. I'm in a job that I don't so much dislike, as I'm not suited for. I'm bad at it in that I can't motivate myself to give my all. But what would I do instead? Could I even do it? My goals all involve beaches, old worn-in boats, and lots of fishing gear. None of those have any sort of wage attached to them (nor do I want there to be -- often hobbies are no longer fun once they become jobs).

The only advice I can give is, if you think you see an opportunity and believe there's even a slight chance it might make your life better, take it! There's never any garuntee that the opportunity will present itself again in the future.

__________________

I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"Facts are meaningless! You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!"
"Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything! 14% of people know that!"

There must be enormous piles of pluses and
minuses in the subject. For instance a lot
of manufacturing facilities these days are
very clean and tidy compared with the dusty
dull factories of 50 years ago. Many people
find they follow their parents into some
activity that keeps them. Education leads
many into careers that match their talents.

But I think that much of peoples annoyance
with their lot can be traced to the advent
of television. Over the years shows and
documentaries have emphasised that many are
born into affluence and most are savvy
enough to keep the wealth through sensible,
spread out investments. But balancing this
is much information about unlucky people who
are ill or old and weak. If you are well and
have a job it tends to keep you going!

What is very upsetting in the British scene
at the moment is the loss of a little bit of
freedom after retirement. The retirement age
rises to 68 in 20 years. Now the priviledged
person who promoted this thinks he can get
it up to 70 years. And the bare faced lie
that "everybody" is living longer continues to
emanate from our television sets!

Josh, caring for animals is very expensive, an admirable project you want to do, there are, like you said a lot of costs involved and on going costs for those animals like vets bills as some animals you want to care for might have underlying problems just like us humans ie: epilepsy and diabetes etc, treatment for those alone will cost a lot of money. If you decide to make it a charity, there are still the "will we meet our target amount per month to cater for the animals needs" running through your mind. If those targets aren't met, the finacial costs will have to come out of your pocket.
Taking on a few animals and working part time might work out for you so you can get the feel of it and your wife can help out..(no extra staff required for the time being)
As for the job, there will be many here who would envy you just having a job. But besides that when you are starting something up in the form of a business a lot of it will be from your own pocket and this could go on for at least a year, all of your luxuries will have to go on the back burner like holidays for example.

There is a question you should ask yourself though......Do you work to live or live to work?

__________________
*Come to the dark side we have cookies*

"Why change passwords when you've got a baseball bat?"

Thanks, Graham.

I work to live, definitely. But, as MAPNUT stated, most people have it that way.

Man, I agree with this 100%

But on the other hand... Even your dream job is going to be hard work, if you want it to put food in your belly and a roof over your head (and education in your brain, and medicine in your medicine cabinet, etc.).

So if survival is going to be hard work no matter how you go about it, why not og about it at a job you enjoy?

I have to have get married to change careers? sheesh! Actually, I've often thought about having kids for that very reason ... create my own personal little army, my minions. That's what kids are for ... right?

Sounds like my boat. It's not that I hate my work and oftentimes it's very interesting, but I struggle with things I don't have a passion for. I've thought about giving it all up and heading to Vanuatu or something and setting up a SCUBA Diving business. Cost of living would be low, lifestyle would be easy, peaceful. But I like where I live and I like having my friends around me. Similar trade off.

Setting up this charity business would be a lot more hard work than engineering, but it wouldn't seem that way because of the passion. When you have a passion for something, it stops being work. I set up a business a few years ago that now pretty much runs without me having to do anything .. i don't make very much money from it ... but it was a good lesson in setting up a business. In the beginning it was 16 to 20 hour days, lots of running around, etc. I was working myself stupid ... lots of hard work. But I didn't once think of it as "work" ... there was never that "oh god, i hate this job" feeling. I know I'd get the same feeling doing the dog stuff multiplied by a hundred. But ... it all comes down to money.

I spoke to my boss at work yesterday about working shorter hours ... taking a day off a week to pursue some charity work. He was very receptive ... so we'll see where that gets us. I've even worked so I shouldn't have to take a pay cut .... brilliant!

__________________
1·618033988749894848204586834365638117720309179805 76286213544862270526046281890244970720720418939113 74

When faced with a choice between a high paying job that doesn't really interest you and a low paying job that does, one option is to take the high paying job and not spend the money you make but invest it instead. Say in an index share fund. Once you have enough money invested so you can purchase the material things you want, quit the high paying job and take the fulfilling job.

Josh,
Think of it this way. What would happen if you woke up tomorrow and couldn't work at anything and you couldn't do what you wanted to do? You never know when everything could be taken from you. Trust me on this, I would follow your passion. You may never get the chance in the future.

__________________
Some try to tell me, thoughts they cannot defend,... - Moody Blues.

Neptune- The original Dark Matter.

The author feels that this technique of deliberately lying will actually make it easier for you to learn the ideas. - Donald Knuth

I worked at the post office as a letter carrier for 34 years. I was outside a lot and never cooped up in an office. I retired and stayed away from working for two years and then became a school bus driver, still my part-time job that has taught me more about human behavior than even being a parent did or even being married to (and divorced from) a psychologist did.

While science made a great hobby, I am glad I didn't do that for a living or anything else with any status attached to it. I had a blue collar life style that always brought me comfort and a pace and freedom to my life that I would not have had otherwise. I never bought a house and never regretted not having one single mortgage payment in my life. For me a mansion is a prison. Not for others though and I don't knock those who went after that. My sister enjoyed the wealth she dreamt of having and obtained and shared it. She and I have always been the best of relatives. It is just that a mobile home is more comforting for me. My employer never had the power over me that was hanging over others with big house payments.

I was one of those rich kids who had envy for those who lived in shacks. Shacks were like my tree fort. My tree fort didn't have windows, running water, electricity or even a stairway to get into it. But the one thing I had in that tree fort that I didn't have in the mansion was both power over my own life and at my own pace.

I got to see my father eat a lot of crow on his death bed. I was the only one with the patience to take care of him in his final years. The life I had provided that patience that I wouldn't have had otherwise. To each his own.

Had I succeeded in becoming a baseball player, a childhood dream, I would not have been happy. For others it was a source of happiness.

As for manual labor itself? I loved it. It was very rewarding.

Lots of things are more fun as a hobby than as a career. I'm happy to be an amateur musician, where I don't risk losing my lunch money if I make a mistake. Math pays more anyway

(was told a story of the sub for a cellist in Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, who had this single held note solo to play. He played it half a step off...was never asked to sub again).

__________________
-----
Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT ESCAPES
FROM THE COMPUTRONS AND GOES OUT TO LUNCH

The Computrons were everywhere—they were tabulating, computing, calculating, scheduling, producing, gaining visibility, and ever working as a team. It was rumored that they were devoid of feeling, although they did have a few circuits for that; however, those signals, weak as they were, were often crowded out by the sheer intensity of their work effort, for the Computrons were single-minded, focused, goal oriented, dutiful, diligent, market driven, and oh so busy, busy, busy!

It would be hard to get past them, I thought, as I looked longingly out the window of my office. Outside I could see freedom in the hills beyond the river, where there was a place that I could have a peaceful lunch, a place whose hidden approach was forever shrouded in mist—a secret spot hidden from all Computron scans, a haven that awaited me. But, how would I get away from work?

There were also the Robotrons and the Automatons to worry about. They were even more intractable than the Computrons since, being earlier models, they were much more inflexible. However, I thought, more philosophically, there has to be a work niche for everyone if a company is going to prosper. Ever needed were the soldier types, organizers, workers, go-fers, administrivians, bosses, whip-crackers, clock-watchers, foil-makers, harried secretaries, nuts, hectic people running around and sweating every little thing, and contented Smoos. Yes, I know, some of those jobs are horrible, but, remember, if it were not for these niche-fillers WE would have to do those jobs!

Some niches were filled and unfilled by a sort of natural selection process, for example, by managers who were not of the right mold, ones who were quickly weeded out of power and replaced by those who would live, eat, and drink the Corporation. Yes, you guessed it: management was soon all of one mind. This was my challenge, dear reader, the mass Corporate mind. It was strong, unyielding, and solid, and certainly one could not face it head on. Still, I would try to do the impossible—which was 1) to go to lunch, and 2) to do it without talking about work or hearing about it while I ate.

All this I kept in mind as I, the Stainless Steel Rat, planned my escape, for nothing could keep me inside on such a day of nice weather. Lunch, especially going out for it, was a long forgotten art that was last practiced by our forefathers, and now nearly impossible to pull off; for lunch had, sadly, become an unofficial extension of the workday. We had to beat the Japatrons! Everything had to be doable and viable—for there was no longer any such thing as a “non concurrence” or a “non commit” (translation: “no”).

However, there were no walls that could hold me—no building secure enough to contain the Stainless Steel Rat, for I lived and thrived in the cracks and small interstices where authority overlapped—in the gray areas of the corporate structure! I would vanish into the rootless world of the abstract, where computers reigned supreme in their silicon and stainless steel world, hence my name. In my world, justice was obtained from the heart, not from the book. Now then, how would I get out to lunch when I was expected to either work through it or to eat with people who would talk about work and nothing else?

My plan unfolded. I scheduled an official meeting in a conference room at 12 noon, a normal enough time for a meeting, but, I invited only myself and some fictitious people who, of course, would not show up. This fake meeting would guarantee that a meeting conflict would occur with those Computrons who often actually did schedule noon meetings (or even worse, 5 PM meetings). Meanwhile, I activated my Turing Machine, which would automatically answer my electronic mail by looking for certain keywords and names, thereby giving replies that would appease the sender, buying me even more time. Next I carefully unplugged my phone so as not to draw undue attention to the phone’s unanswered ringing during the next half-hour from the fools who would try to call during lunchtime, for it was now already getting near 11:30.

Then I changed into my Corporation camouflage clothes: a white shirt and tie, with sleeves partway rolled up; for, this would help me blend more easily into the crowd, making me quite boring and unspectacular, and therefore practically invisible. As a final touch I put fifteen pens and pencils into my shirt pocket and carried some foils and paperwork in my hand, as well as a briefcase containing the delicious lunch that I had prepared at home.

This was it. Do or die. I left my appointment calendar prominently displayed, so that anyone who was really trying hard to find me would stumble over the calendar and presume it to be the truth. Then I quietly looked both ways, for it was still a little bit early for lunch, and quickly left my office, even walking 300 feet out of my way just to avoid the office of a Super Computron who loved to delegate work on sight of the nearest person. For concealment, I temporarily joined a group of marching Automatons, walking close behind them so that no one could observe me in operation as an individual. Once in the clear, I eased off down a side hallway.

Oh, no, Red Alert! My previous manager was coming straight at me, though he was still a ways off down the aisle. He would surely bend my ear until it was swollen and red with pain, and make me late for lunch. Thinking fast, I quickly ducked into the place where no man had gone before: the ladies room. I counted to twenty to allow him time to pass and then exited, not even stopping to wash my hands.

Yes, I could have had lunch in the Corporation cafeteria, but, as I’ve said, that was much too dangerous, for work was being talked about in there, and also the food was poor and expensive. I just had to get out in order to save my mind from being narrowed down too much. I headed towards the freight elevator which would lead me to the unguarded exit of the loading dock.

The walk toward the elevator was the most dangerous part of my plan, for it was a one-way aisle with no side exits. Oh, no! I ran straight into an Automaton! My only hope was to ask it to join me for lunch, hoping to catch it off-guard—so it would think that I was joking. So, I asked it to lunch. I guess I reached its built-in humor mechanism, for it coughed out a mechanical laugh and said, “There’s not enough hours in the day for the celebration of life that you describe through social relationships, human interaction, dreams, art, nature, books, romance, joy, happiness, smiles, adventure, and certainly not lunch! Work, work, work! I must work on my foils for a one o’clock meeting. I cannot go out to lunch, ha, ha; my life is out of control because I’ve bit off more than I can chew—” I quickly slipped away while it was still mindlessly lecturing me from the automated tape of standard prerecorded answers.

So, lunch was still on, and I carefully left the building, taking no more chances, staying well out of the line of sight of any big shot’s office window, both for practice and to keep myself alert. Also, just in case anyone was watching, and for alibi reasons, I headed over to the actual building of my fake meeting, where, by the way, no one knew me. I entered the building and immediately exited it by a side door. This ruse was necessary because the badge reader would record my exact time of entry, in case there was an investigation later, but not the time of my departure.

Outside again, I hugged the sides of the buildings until I got well through no man’s land and past other obstacles and could gain cover from trees. All this was well away from the security gates, of course, for there was no getting through them at this time of day since they were laser equipped and therefore deadly to any moving object. I headed for the river portion of the Corporation “moat”, for it was the most lightly defended. I took the route most likely to succeed, the one through the Corporation graveyard, wherein every Computron epitaph read exactly the same: It lived; It was busy; It died.

I hoped that I could remember the path down to the water, a trail made by the Indians long ago. I found the secret entrance into the river bluffs, carefully passed the No-Trespassing signs, and snuck in through a small gap in the electronic fence. Of course, no one was allowed to use these wonderful trails since they might fall off of a cliff and then sue the Corporation.

A glorious view soon unfolded before me, and the world was once again bright, and beautiful. My spirit lifted upon seeing the sparkles on the water, the mountains, and the waterfalls across the river. My boat was waiting just where I’d left it. Naturally, I was careful not to touch the water, for it was poisoned with toxic pollution.

This was really it! I crossed the river—in the boat that I’d so carefully constructed from driftwood and fallen trees. I landed on the opposite shore, a still pristine county that both time and progress had somehow forgotten. I walked into a wild vineyard and picked a shady spot, among many, where nature was still new and fresh. There I savored my lunch without distraction, even read an old forbidden book, then began a wonderful nap on the grass. Looking across the river, I saw no sign of the Corporation, except for its two water towers.

The Stainless Steel Rat had made it—I had gone out to lunch; I was across the river and into the woods.

Josh - excellent topic!

I see a lot of common threads, here, and so in a rare moment of clarity, I'd like to share a bit of my own experience, as well as my observations of some of the common threads here, in the hopes that some of you eventually find yourselves in a position where you're doing something you truly love doing, and are getting paid for it, as well!

I've always been somewhat of an entrepreneur. When I needed money as a kid, I'd offer services for groundskeeping or cleaning pools. In high school I slung burgers, and in college I managed pools. Also in college I worked counter sales, sold professional audio equipment, worked as an engineer with Litton, and as an accountant for a company which made industrial power substations, primarily for mining and shore to ship operations.

When I graduated college, I let a friend talk me into working my first summer out of college as a camp counselor, and that proved to be one of the most challenging, yet rewarding and fun jobs I ever had.

I didn't pay much.

I'd always enjoyed the outdoors and working with others and kids, and we were rarely indoors, I was always working with others my age, and we had kids coming out of our ears! Awesome!

Thank you, Caren.

Then it was off to reality and I began work as a consultant. A few months of that and another job offer rolled in, with a substantial pay cut, but with a promise of adventure and a potentially lucrative retirement.

I took it.

For the next two decades, I flew airplanes about half the time, flying all over the world, and worked various management and in-house consulting positions the other half of my time. The last four years were NOT FUN, in part due to a heartbreaking divorce, but also due to a major shift in management perspectives. Several times I wanted to throw in the towel so bad I about lost my mind, but somehow I made it through, and while I won't be sailing around the world on my "retirement," if I live frugally, it's barely enough to live on.

Naturally, I'm in my mid-40s, so I'm not ready to retire!

Biting the bullet with respect to the work situation did allow me to find myself in my current situation, which is that I'm free to pursue my hobbies (writing and photography) with enough time to see if I am able to turn them into a second career. So far, I've got some nibbles, but it's only been a couple of months in a horrible economy, so it's still too early to tell. I also enjoy developing algorithms for various analytical processes, so at the urging of my friends, I'm pursuing that, as well.

I don't know what the future holds! I do know that this morning I Armor-Alled every bit of exterior rubber and plastic on my truck, and earlier this evening, I took my truck over to the wash stalls near where I live, and proceeded to give it a thorough cleaning and wax.

Living life comes largely with the little things.

Immediately prior to washing my truck, we had a thunderstorm come through, so I opened the back door and watched it for about half an hour as I ate dinner. Although things had cleared enough for me to finish my truck, the storm clouds were still around, sans rain and lightening, and it was just awesome being outdoors in that freshly-cleaned environment with the sun about an hour before sunset over the Rockies.

It's the little things.

A wise friend recently told me, "Don't be a freelance writer. Be a freelancer." When I asked him what he meant by that, he said, "A freelancer is someone who marries his top talents with his top interests and either finds, or creates, a market niche so he can get paid work hard while having fun!"

Thus, for better or worse, as of a couple of months ago I am now a freelancer, and am seeking the right mix of what I can do with what I want to do and what others want done.

Whether any of you have followed similar paths, jumped the train early, or have been grinding away for a decade vs my four, I think our heart's desires are the same: To do something we're good at doing, that we like to do, and get paid for it. The trick is always the same for everyone - finding out what those things are.

Most communities have employment services which include both interest surveys and aptitude tests. I found these exceptionally helpful, as each of these tests matched me with jobs in which I'd most likely find success. Then, where the results from each test matched the other, I found some interesting results.

First was the fact that I'd done for the last twenty years the best sorts of things I could have done. Second is that I'm doing those sorts of things that I should be doing.

Third is that there are two additional areas in which I might make a second career and be very happy. They involve two areas about which I rarely think, yet during those times when I have thought about them, I've been at peace with the idea of heading in that direction.

For myself, then, testing was both a confirmation as well as an eye-opener, and I'd recommend them to anyone, whether you're thinking about a career change or not.

The other issue involves one of realism. I absolutely love flying airplanes. Unfortunately, that's not exactly a very good field for pilots these days, and given my health, good, but not what it was 20 years ago, I may only be able to pursue it for another 5 to 10 years. As such, it wouldn't be worth much to me in the long run if I had to sit down and start doing what I'm doing now (freelancer) when I'm of an age where I should be well-established as a freelancer and captilizing on the hard work I'd invested between now and then.

So, here I am, starting over, excited about the possibilities, yet working through the issues with fear and trepidation of the unknown. It's a bit like the first time I flew solo. I knew I could do it, but what if I goofed up? What if I zigged when I should have zagged?

Then I think, "What if I'd allowed the fear to get to me way back then? What if I'd never stepped foot into the cockpit, or if I'd quit when the going got tough? Where would I have been, now?"

And I smile. Who knows? Perhaps if I'd followed the consulting gig I'd have been a gazillionaire. More likely, I'd have been similarly well-off. Then again, I may also have been scraping by since 9/11, as I know a few of my peers have been doing.

Regardless, I smile, not because I've "made it" (I'm not even halfway there!), but because of the journey behind, as well as the journey before me. There are no givens, but there are opportunities, and it's time I move forward and take advantage of a few.

More later about my observations.

- Mugs

__________________
"Toward no crimes have men shown themselves so cold- bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief." - James Russell Lowell

Josh, you wrote: "There are lots of costs involved and the need for staff."

If you're going to take care of a ton of dogs, yes, that may be necessary. How many are we talking about, here? Three hundred? How're you going to feed all of them?

Have you considered an alternative means of accomplishing your goals? For example, you enjoy being around dogs. So do lots of others. There are organizations out there who rescue dogs from bad situations (often from the pounds) and who place them in loving homes, often with the elderly, for the mutual benefit of them both. I've a friend who's involved in a Golden retriever-specific organization doing this. Something you may wish to consider, if you'd like to expand it to more breeds.

Atraveller - "Life large - take life in big chunks"

And if we don't, it often takes big chunks out of us! Seriously, life can be scary, but that's all the more reason to meet it head-on.

Perikles - "other than having the conviction that sitting in the same office for two to three decades was not for me personally."

Wise man! Too often people going after nothing but a dollar loose sight of what's really important, including piece of mind, family, and friends.

stutefish - "So if survival is going to be hard work no matter how you go about it, why not og about it at a job you enjoy?"

Very astute, stutefish! Why not, indeed?

blueshift - I miss my tree forts! I had quite a few scattered throughout the woods around where I grew up. Many didn't even have a roof - just a few boards nailed in some branches. There is indeed something about manual labor that I like. I'd usually shock my employees when I'd grab a broom and have a go at the halls or take out the trash. The smarter ones jumped in to lend a hand...

ToeQuestor - neat story! A fellow writer!

__________________
"Toward no crimes have men shown themselves so cold- bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief." - James Russell Lowell

You also change as you age. In my current job, I am looking forward to retirement the year after next--when I started it, getting thee opportunity to travel all over the world was great. But now as I have matured, gotten married, and had kids, I want to go places I am interested in, and take my family with to share with them....
It also doesn't help that I have been promoted into management instead of working on the floor with the equipment (which is why I got my project car to start work on after my next business trip...).

__________________
"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)

Great post.

You know, I was a gifted artist, who loved to paint. But when I dropped everything and pursued it ... the stress of being always broke has made me HATE painting. Now I've been working as a machinist for over a year, and I still have a tough time picking up a paint brush. Meanwhile, I've learned to buck up and enjoy my job as a machinist, even if it can be either tedious or downright exhausting somedays.

MAPNUT

I think people need to be much more accepting of the concept of working for a living. It's especially hard for young people to accept that they're expected to work for the next 40 years, after being told many times while growing up, "Reach for your dreams!" Really, how many people are able to make a living by following their dream? One out of 20? Work is just work, and someone has to do it. Think of all the people who do work for you - building your home, making your clothes, growing your food, teaching your children - even stocking the shelves in your grocery store. Should they all be doing something they love instead? Plain old work should get a lot more respect than it does. I always say "Thanks" to the supermarket cashiers, because without them I couldn't even get my groceries.

I don't live to work. I work to live. Work started out as a way to earn the money to do the things I liked such as putting food on the table and not freezing in the winter. Today, it still does all that and much more. My first job (age 16) was bagging groceries. In the 36 years since then, I've worked many different jobs (and different projects within the same job). These include:

Soldier (paratrooper)
Electronics technician
Communications (AUTODIN) in the Air Force
Teacher (Jr High/High school math & science)
Satellite Controller
Space Surveillance Crew Commander
Space Surveillance Program Manager
Computer Programmer (civilian and defense contractor)
Adjuct Faculty (Computer Science)
Enterprise Architect (a type of analyst) and my company's lead UML/EA trainer

I've had good jobs and not so good jobs. My current job is very good: it pays well, it can't be outsourced due to security clearance requirements, is technically and intellectually challenging, and I get to work with some good people. Some days are still better than others but I can truthfully say that I really like my job.

The funny thing is that just about everything I've ever done has come back to be useful in what I'm doing today. My old electronics technician experience proved quite useful in work I'm doing on a high speed data link project. My satellite operations and space surveillanc experience provide knowledge that I use daily. Even my teaching experience has come in handy in my role as chief trainer.

I wonder how many people out there actually do like their jobs? I mean really like their jobs ... get up in the morning without that inertia wanting to keep them in bed instead of grinding away at another day.

__________________
1·618033988749894848204586834365638117720309179805 76286213544862270526046281890244970720720418939113 74