Would you choose money over happiness? *NO CLIFS*

[SketchMaster]

Recently, I took a position in my company that moved me from IT to a team where I spend most of my time traveling as a Gov Contractor; the promise of seeing the world and getting paid a good bit more coin than what I was making was too good an offer to pass up. In the last six months I’ve been to Poland, Germany (twice), all over the east coast and almost snagged a trip to Hawaii; I’ve even been asked if I want to live in Germany for 6 Months (or more). Seems like the dream job, right? Get to live in Europe with all the beer, women and beautiful locals you could ever want.

Thing is… I’m pretty miserable…

I’ve learned that I hate living in hotels more than my own apartment, having to be rushed off to the next place as soon as I get back (once I was only in town long enough to wash my clothes, repack, sleep a few hours and then run to the airport), dealing with the Army’s “Hurry up and get it done so I can change my mind or decide it wasn’t that big of deal anyway…” mentality, ungodly long hours, getting sick and having to fly anyway, hardly seeing friends and family, gone too much to even bother dating, and being stressed out of my mind…

Don’t get me wrong, the job has some great perks too. When I’m not trying to get things ready and having to pull 15hr shifts to try and fix random bugs, being able to go and travel around and meet new people over a beer can be an awesome experience; and the paychecks when I get home give me the warm fuzzy. However, as soon as I’m back in a hotel room and up at 12AM doing work I remember why it is I keep going through Tums like candy.

I’m strongly considering stepping down back into my old position, or asking them if I can stay on the team and just be someone that works in office and doesn’t travel all the time. I’d go back to living paycheck to paycheck, but I’d rather do that then deal with this. I look at other contractors and see they all look like they haven't slept in days (even towards the end of the event where things are relaxed), no wedding rings on their fingers because they either got divorced from being gone so much or just never got around to it, and drink like fish to deal with stress; I’m just not sure I want to wake up in 10-15 years and see myself like that in the mirror. Granted, I'm only 25 right now so I may just have my priorities mixed up.

I guess right now I'm just doing some soul searching and trying to figure out if I simply am not cut of for a job like this, or if I want the big money and don't want to actually WORK for it.

 

[rcpratt]

Money is just one of the means to happiness. If you're happier overall with the lower-paying job, that's what I'd do...

 

[dguy6789]

Money > happiness if you can have only one or the other. Usually if you have money you can get happiness later easily, but not vice versa.

 

[mizzou]

Money buys happiness


But if you suffer from depression, it may just take more $ to get there

 

[destrekor]

My whole goal with money is to afford the things that make me happy.

Part of that goal is to get to progressively better-paying jobs, in a job-track that I can enjoy. Get the money to acquire happiness, and the whole time feel rewarded for enjoying the work I do.

Not there yet, fresh out of college it's hard to get a job you can enjoy, and get the necessary income to afford most things.

 

[Sea Moose]

there are now cliffs in your thread. where can i collect my free ipod?

 

[SketchMaster]

Part of that goal is to get to progressively better-paying jobs, in a job-track that I can enjoy. Get the money to acquire happiness, and the whole time feel rewarded for enjoying the work I do.

I think that right there really is the root problem of this, I don't think I ENJOY what I'm doing. I'm good with computers, but I don't enjoy how I'm using that skill to make money.


I've spent the last ten years hopping from one job or college class to other trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life; I've done video editing, Vet tech, computer tech, now world traveling field engineer. I’ve never managed to finish a degree, or progress very far in the work place because I realized that even though I’m GOOD at it didn’t mean I enjoyed doing it day after day.

 

[BeauJangles]

Money buys happiness


But if you suffer from depression, it may just take more $ to get there

This is patently untrue. Money, up to a certain amount (about $70-75k / yr) increases happiness dramatically but, beyond that it does little to affect people's overall happiness or perception of themselves.

It's not like rich folks don't have huge problems too.

 

[dguy6789]

This is patently untrue. Money, up to a certain amount (about $70-75k / yr) increases happiness dramatically but, beyond that it does little to affect people's overall happiness or perception of themselves.

It's not like rich folks don't have huge problems too.

Rich people don't have real problems, they have tiny problems that they blow way out of proportion.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Obviously your personal satisfaction with your life is not dependent on material possessions or the paycheck would keep you from even asking this question.

Your phrasing makes it sound like you don't mind hard work as long as its something worth doing, and it seems clear that you don't find that to be the case at your current job. Get out before you wake up and realize you hate the life you've lived.

 

[mizzou]

Rich people don't have real problems, they have tiny problems that they blow way out of proportion.

Lol, yes. OP, compare your current shitty situation to one such as, maybe working at fast food or being shot.at. How crappy is your job.really other than being carted around and being filthy rich?


Gobwatch that clooney movie up in the air

 

[destrekor]

I think that right there really is the root problem of this, I don't think I ENJOY what I'm doing. I'm good with computers, but I don't enjoy how I'm using that skill to make money.


I've spent the last ten years hopping from one job or college class to other trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life; I've done video editing, Vet tech, computer tech, now world traveling field engineer. I’ve never managed to finish a degree, or progress very far in the work place because I realize that even though I’m GOOD at it didn’t mean I enjoyed doing it day after day.

I'm still not at a spot I can say I know exactly what I want to do. But I'm going to be less focused on that, and more focused on just getting experience that can cover a lot of areas on a resume... more or less building a wide foundation that can support for a few different possible structures in the future.

Before I went to college, I was ready to get my CCNA, A+ (though that one is a joke), and to move onto more advanced skills during college - likely the route of CSE or CE. Then I decided... fuck, if I had to do this shit every day, I could wind up becoming any one of the characters in Office Space, where I just absolutely dread every single day of work, and feel like I might just burn a building down after awhile.

So I went the opposite route - a degree that is basically all soft-sciences, a bunch of sociology and psychology of security and terrorism studies.

And soon I will be an officer in a signal corps reserve unit, and am actually thinking I might be able to use that to gain entry into the communications field in some way. A few years down the road, might get a chance to TWI (Train With Industry) and earn a few certs, so that's an option.
But I'm also looking at the Security field - a lot of that, and ultimately, wouldn't mind being an agent or a consultant.

Right now, I'm just a security guard at a lumber yard. I can't say I loathe working, because there isn't exactly all that much I have to do. And really, I feel like it's an 8 hour block of Reading Time, and every now and then I have to do a little work. I'm just blazing through novels at that job.

Pay kind of sucks, but it pays the bills at this point (not much else)...

That's how I'm looking at everything right now.

Don't get caught up in enjoying every single thing about a job right now, but set a goal... always keep in mind how you can use your current job to get to the next step on your journey. At the end of the road is your long-term goal, doing something you really like. Stick to a job for awhile, use it to build the foundation for your goals.
And look good doing it. If you're a solid worker, you get more opportunities. Especially if you really impress supervisors and whatnot. They might leave, they might go higher up - and if you have made amazing impressions on people, it seriously helps.

It's not as much about skills as it is about knowing people. But you have to have the skills to leave impressions on the people you know, and the work ethic, so that the people you know remember you.

 

[darkewaffle]

Lol, yes. OP, compare your current shitty situation to one such as, maybe working at fast food or being shot.at. How crappy is your job.really other than being carted around and being filthy rich?


Gobwatch that clooney movie up in the air

Man I loved that movie, thought it was brilliant. +1

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Apparently everyone that has a child that they truly cannot afford, financially, to raise is. I dare parents to pay 100% of their kids public education.

 

[Josh123]

I'm kind of in the opposite postion as you OP. I'm currently working full time while my wife goes to college. The pay is somewhat decent but there are a lot of things we would like to have but just can't afford. We just bought a house and should be moving in next week and we are thinking of all these things we would like to buy but can't. We are happy but I know if we could afford to do other things we enjoy we would be more happy I suppose. I'd also love to go snowboarding this winter and take my wife for her first time but can't.

 

[hans030390]

Happiness > money. People are so absorbed in getting money and material goods that they tend to end up unhappy anyway.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Happiness, whether bought or just acquired through living, is the goal of life. Any decision that is between happiness and something else is a no-brainer.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I'd still rather do that ... make things a little interesting, but if it did not settle down after 2-3 years, i'd have to rethink.

 

[SketchMaster]

Lol, yes. OP, compare your current shitty situation to one such as, maybe working at fast food or being shot.at. How crappy is your job.really other than being carted around and being filthy rich?


Gobwatch that clooney movie up in the air

I know life could be much harder for me, hence why I'm trying to think about this carefully before I make a move.

And I don't make nearly as much as you think, I just make more than I did in working in IT; I would never call myself "rich".

 

[dud]

I can't figure out those within this thread that rate money over happiness. Almost everything we do as humans is focused on being happy. If you tie your happiness to money ... you are doomed to failure. Yes, it might be easier to be happy with more money but money itself is just a thing and if "things" make you happy ...

Op, go for the happiness, that's what we strive for. As for the job ... it sounds to me like you're job is in IA.

 

[skyking]

Your gut is telling you what to do, no pun intended. I've burned that candle a couple of times in my life and you just feel older beyond your years afterward.
If you can't figure out a way to gracefully bow out of the job and stay with the company, start looking for a new job elsewhere.

 

[BeauJangles]

Rich people don't have real problems, they have tiny problems that they blow way out of proportion.

By that token, middle class people don't have real problems, either. They have tiny problems that they blow out of proportion.

I hate to break it to you, but just because the grass looks greener on the other side doesn't make it so. There's no doubt that money helps, but only up to a point. Beyond that, the returned happiness on increased dollar amount is minimal and can actually decline.

 

[blackdogdeek]

25?

now is the time when you should be enjoying life and doing things you want to instead of things you need to. choose the job that lets you maximize fun.

when you have a mortgage, car payments and kids, that is the time when you will do the things because you need to do. that's when you take the shite jobs to maximize money.

 

[destrekor]

Happiness > money. People are so absorbed in getting money and material goods that they tend to end up unhappy anyway.

Not everything is entirely about material goods. And not everyone who just absolutely love acquiring material goods will end up unhappy.

It's all about the pure approach to everything, and the reasoning behind it.

If you want to purchase things simply to have new and more things - yeah, that can end up causing problems, and more specifically doesn't really do anything to please our inner animal-goals.

What I mean by that, is mostly revolved around socializing.
If we can find hobbies and time-wasting expenditures that provide happiness for the times when we are seeking me-time, and for the times we want company, then we should be able to skirt problems down the road.

That's why home theater and video games are great - we can use them alone, or with other people.
And then there's always the bar and various social places (theaters, pool hall, concerts, sporting activities, etc etc etc) for when we all want something different.

Everyone has their things they enjoy. We all have the things we like to spend money on, we just have to balance our happiness expenditures against our actual income. Some people find struggles doing that, some people spend more money on too many things for themselves, or too many one-time costs. And then need more money to actually fulfill the requirements of their high-cost living. If you aren't careful, it becomes more of a stress than it should be.

 

[soulcougher73]

I think it would depend on how much money and how unhappy i would be while making it. Normally i would say no, but if its enough money to "buy" your happiness then i would probably say yes.