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Doing what you love to earn a living is a great thing plus it is a huge blessing if that thing can foot your bills and even give you a comfortable life after.
But in a scenario when that thing I love doing doesn't help me solve my financial needs comfortably, I will rather embrace a job I don't like and be financially okay. Sometimes ago, I wrote an article about how passion doesn't guarantee success; a lot of people grow gray hair while waiting for that thing they are passionate about to solve all their financial problems and because it works for some people doesn't mean it will work for you too. If your passion is not helping you live comfortably to an extent, it is best to get a job to replace it or combine both if possible.
I can't speak for everyone and in my case, I would rather do something legal that I don't like but would make me financially okay than doing something I love that doesn't give me enough. My reasons are quite simple, I am just going to be as real as possible.
I have lots of financial responsibilities.
The responsibilities on me wouldn't even make me have the second thought about taking a job I don't like as long as the pay is huge, I know the money involved will eventually make me love it after some time.
I have rent, and utility bills, my brothers are in school, I am responsible for myself, and I have a mom and family members looking up to me so it will be unwise to choose what I love when there are other options. No matter how much I can dislike a job, getting good pay will eventually make me like it and even dedicate my time to it.
The expatriates I was working with then were rude, they made me hate the job but seeing my bills sorted at the end of every month makes me happy and it got to an extent I do not even bother about their rude habits, I just do my job and get out of the place when its closing hour. A Nigerian artist mentioned in a song that "money doesn't buy happiness", I thought deeply about it and he was wrong.
Happiness for an average Nigerian is the ability to sort bills, put food on their table, have a roof over their head, and others, doing any of these things require money. These things aren't too much and if what I love won't take care of this, I better do what I don't have passion for that will help me handle them conveniently.
I am not a fan of pictures and outings, now imagine I got a modeling contract involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, I wouldn't mind modeling every day since the money will take care of my worries completely.
I have dreams.
Responsibilities aren't the only things that require money, fulfilling my dreams requires lots of money as well. I want to create job opportunities, I want to own a school of good learning standards that will be very cheap and affordable for an average Nigerian, I want to build houses and rent them out to homeless people at cheap prices, and I want to own a big farm and others.
All these wouldn't be possible if I can't even take care of my bills, since the job I don't like can help me achieve these things, I will do what I don't like, make lots of money and fulfill my dreams.
There is time for everything.
We all don't know how long we will live but no one would wish to see him or herself die an untimely death.
Now is the time I can do any kind of legal work even though I don't like it, I am strong and have a good ability to endure a lot of things, so it would be wise to make money now and retire to the things I love later. At that time my expectation about life wouldn't be so high and I must have secured my future with the investment so even though I don't make enough money doing the things I love later, my investment would cover my expenses.
Thanks for reading.
Hello @george-dee
I agree with what you've written!
Money might not be able to buy happiness, but money sure doesn't make you miserable, and neither does it make you unhappy.
Taking care of responsibilities is important, and having money takes the stress away.
If we were to look at say Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; Safety and Security is a human need, which can only be achieved by having money, since, money is the only medium of exchange that allows us humans to obtain anything we need.
I think you've applied great critical thinking to this idea that will forever be debatable.
Note: Yes, there are many wealthy famous people who are unhappy, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's the money that causes the unhappiness.
Nice one!
I think the same, money is important in our live since is the way of having the things we need at the moment we can buy it. I spent, or waste, better said,lots of time in my youth under the "money is the cause of every evil" idea, and the result was a wasted opportunity of improve me financial capacity to the future, now I'm pursuing an economical stability level that I could've reached years ago, but never it's to late to doing good I think, the influence of money in every area of our life should never be underestimated. Cheers to all.
We are on the same page. There is low pay, and there there is third-world low pay (with all the complications attached to it).
Pragmatism will always win in those cases.
You may not be speaking for everyone but you are speaking for most. I for one would rather live a simple life but happy because I like doing what I love.