So it’s one or the other eh?
I think there is a lot more middle ground than you let on.
Honestly, JD, do you “enjoy” teaching kids to play the hokey-pokey? Is this what your dream was when you were a kid? To run a cram school for over-homeworked brats in Taiwan?
Someone’s grumpy today, judging by your other posts 
Yes, let’s be honest here - Stop trying to convince yourself that everyone who’s got a decent job hates it and does it just for the money. What if, god forbid, they find what they do intrinsicly interesting? Most of the I know that are successful are so because they love what they do. The people that just do it for the money tap-out because they lack the passion or the energy.
Not everyone is slogging through soullessly. But, if it makes you feel happier, then keep telling yourself that.
I find it hard to believe that normal people really have a “passion” for crunching out numbers or editing technical English papers or typing in computer code. How many bankers, engineers, computer programmers, accountants, lawyers, bureaucratic drones, really have a “passion” for what they are doing? Like Emerson said, most men live out their lives in quiet desperation. That’s the facts of life. Here’s a good gauge for how much people enjoy their jobs: if you offered your average person 10 million dollars, most people would quit their jobs the next day. Very, very few would keep on at the jobs they “love”. 99% would quit to pursue the hobbies they’ve always wanted to do. Only 1% of the people in this world actually enjoy and love the jobs they do every day. For everybody else, it’s just a paycheck. You’re honestly going to tell me that if you won the lottery tomorrow, you’d continue to work at whatever it is you do? Translating Chinese to English, or whatever it is, that’s your idea of fun?
Dude, I don’t teach the hokey pokey. I teach a pretty good reading program that my wife and I designed. I don’t think that what I wanted to do as a kid means a whole lot now. I have always wanted to be free to do what I wanted to do. I enjoy owning my own business. I enjoy my free time, and the best thing I ever did was get married and start a family.
You are right in that money is not the be/end all of life. Living in Taiwan IS great for the reasons you stated, freedom and a relatively light workload. Mine is a little heavier than yours apparently, and I’m sure I put up with a bit more BS than you do; yet, is it worth it? Sure. Not only am I financing my hobbies and family fun now, but I’m stashing cash away for the future and for my son’s education.
You are also correct in that one can design and live a tailormade life in taiwan without too much trouble, as long as one accepts the fact that to continue that life, you have to remain here…unless you save up enough cash and open a dive shop/cafe/hotel in the PI or Thailand…
Anyway, I am not critcising your POV really, I’m just adding to it. Some of us are quite happy doing what we do and do get a lot of satisfaction doing it AND see it as a means to an end. Best of both worlds bud.
peace
jds
And yes, I am in one of my “moods” today. Apparently it is not only women who get PMS.
I’ve noticed.
Have some chocolate? 
My work has nothing to do with teaching or translating. But, back to the subject at hand…
I agree that some people don’t choose their career for the right reason. I agree that some people do it just for paycheck. I also agree with your idea about what consists enough wealth. But the assertion you made was that I could either be happy or be wealthy, and that I was deluding myself by thinking that I could have a career and be happy. Sounds to me more like you are justifying your own choices.
If I became independently wealth tomorrow, I would not likely give up my job. I like the interaction with other people. I find the work intrinsicly interesting. I think it has some redeeming social value.
If I got 10MM, I would save the $10MM in case the day ever came that I became unsatisfied with my job/career. But for now, I am.
To answer this and all of life’s really big questions I always refer to Leunig:
Nothing wrong with being a little edgy. Did you have your chocolate fix 
I always find it fascinating to learn why people do what they do, or how’d you get into what it is that they do. Liking and not liking, well, I say it is what it is, and one needs to make the most of the situation. We can’t always “choose” our calling in life but we can choose how we’ll do in that situation.
This is important when you’re a hiring person and need to figure out whether the person in front of you got what it takes to do the job. Matching people’s natural talents with a role is critical; no use putting a square peg in a round hole but that’s a lot of what happens in life, not just the corporate slut world.
At the end of the day, if you can get out of bed, do a good honest job, not cheat someone, then that’s a success.
On this note, I’ve been trying to read Maslow on Management. A bit of a tough slog :s.
Nama, I can relate. My problem is rather more to the effect that I have way to many interests and get bored with doing the same thing all the time way to quickly.
However, since I was at Uni I’ve always wanted to return as a lecturer someday. Having studied Political Science and been in the research field for six years I know I like that part. Having taught here for a few years I now know I also like the teaching part. Now all I need to do is get my Masters and Doctors and Bob’s your uncle, right?
Wrong… Politics isn’t really the kind of thing that seems to be in demand and I’m not all that keen to return home anytime soon.
Hence the quandary. I would love to teach at a uni here for a few years before I return home, but they seem to only be interested if you got your post grad back home. Aaaaarrrrrggghhhh!!!
And so I’ve been tangled in this endless circle for two years now and I’m not getting any younger.
Damn it! :fume:
Exactly, I need something that engages me and challenges me constantly. It’s out there, it’s just I don’t want to spend my whole life trying to find it. As, I feel like a bit of a ‘loser’ because I don’t have a “career” or what my family would consider stablity.
But the blessing is that as I’ve gotten older, I am breaking away from those archetypes, not as fast as I would like.
To put it simply, on my deathbed, I rather be able to reflect on my life as to what kind of person I became, and how it changed the world around me as oppose to having accolades and a title after my name.
In high school I had no idea what I wanted to be. I only knew one thing for sure–I’d never, NEVER be an English teacher. And now, though I’m doing social work her in the States, I’m still correcting people’s grammar and syntax! I just can’t quit!
So, Nama, just declare that you will never _____________! Then you’re sure to do it!