Happiness is a mindset which is often times not measurable in currency.
This is definitely true. But at the same time I must admit I earn quite a bit more than a few years ago and it has definitely made a lot of things easier. I can imagine you're not happy if you have to worry about not having enough money to buy your children new clothes.
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I'm glad you enjoy it. Having that dynamic aspect surely helps with that I would imagine. But as you said, how long can you be willing to put up with the stress? That has to take it's toll eventually as well.
I think stress is not necessarily bad, but the older you get the more you need to spread stressful moments out.
The thing with my profession is mostly the adrenaline rushes, especially because I'm a litigator. You go to court all hyped up and afterwards you need a few hours to wind down. I think it's awesome, but I'm not sure if this is healthy.
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Work and the like numb the pain of regret and lack of purpose. "Why am i here?" Ought to be one of the first question an adult needs to answer, but most of us are rushed to the grind and it just becomes a second nature. But the lack of answer for that question does catch up with us.
You're touching a core issue there.
Lots of people identify through their jobs and feel like this is their raison d'être (please say it in decent French, even if it's just in your head). But this is usually not a very good idea. Life and humanity are about so much more than work. And then there's the fact you can get fired or lose your clients every day. Hell, maybe you get in a car crash, can't work for a few months and by the time you get back your firm is gone. There's so much that can happen. If you look to your job to provide you a sense of purpose in your life, you're fucked.
But it is good for giving you an every day purpose, in the sense of being active and productive.