A friend of mine was telling me how she was offered a job in her area of expertise what would be her “dream job” but decided to turn it down because it paid significantly less than her current position. Which got me thinking… What’s the price on happiness? Do you have one? Do I have one?

Opportunity and fate are funny things. Sometimes they come in packages that are not presented in the prettiest wrapper so we decide they are of little or no value. We call it our “gut feeling”. In the case of my friend, who shall remain nameless, she though it would be taking a step back. It was obvious that she’d be taking a financial step backwards, but was it really a step back in her career path? What about job satisfaction? How important is to love what you do? I guess this goes back to an earlier post of mine: Do you work to live or live to work? Gut feelings are tough because sometimes it’s hard to distinguish it from fear.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand where she is coming from. I’m sure we all do. We need money to live and once we’ve become accustom to a lifestyle that we like, it’s hard to let that go. I’m sure that about 80% of the people in this world are not “living their dream” because more often than not, the dream pays crapola.  I’d love to be the person who plays with the dogs all day at PetSmart’s doggie daycare… but not for minimum wage. 

Why does it have to be one or the other? What can’t we eat our cake AND have the cash to pay for it too?