job = purpose?

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2

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  • CasperO
    CasperO Posts: 2,913 Member
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    You gotta eat.

    I turned 18 in boot camp because my parents quite literally could not afford to feed me anymore. I kind of understand what you're saying, but I've never had any choices or options so I can't really relate. All my adult life my choices have been to work or to go hungry.

    If you can make this work then more power to you.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
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    i just dont want to work! haha i want to spend time working out, sewing, being in nature, raising kids and a dog, cleaning the house, being FREE!

    i think the most annoying thing about it is no one UNDERSTANDS that its not that im un-ambitious, its that i have a different set of priorities....

    Hey, I wanna be a cowboy. Unless you're some kind of trust fund kid, you gotta go to work. Get a job.
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
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    i just dont want to work! haha i want to spend time working out, sewing, being in nature, raising kids and a dog, cleaning the house, being FREE!

    i'm assuming there will be a partner involved that will have to work to support this freedom of yours and purchase a house for you and your children to live in? that hardly seems fair...

    Raising children and maintaining a household is hardly freedom!

    Hey, not everyone thinks like that. There is nothing wrong with raising children and maintaining a household. Some people actually find joy in that.
  • brittanyjeanxo
    brittanyjeanxo Posts: 1,831 Member
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    For me, it's not so much "having a job" that gives me purpose as having a fulfilling career that allows me to live comfortably and that doesn't feel like a job. Right now I work at a JCPenney, purely for monetary gain, but I go to school for medical assisting. I absolutely love the field I'm going into, I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. So for me, that would equal part of my purpose. It doesn't hurt that my starting salary will be between 40 and 60 thousand a year, and my boyfriend's will be $80,000 on the low end, putting us at a yearly six-figure income. So that won't hurt at all lol
  • brittanyjeanxo
    brittanyjeanxo Posts: 1,831 Member
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    i just dont want to work! haha i want to spend time working out, sewing, being in nature, raising kids and a dog, cleaning the house, being FREE!

    i'm assuming there will be a partner involved that will have to work to support this freedom of yours and purchase a house for you and your children to live in? that hardly seems fair...

    It's hardly fair of you to be so judgmental! Her and her husband/partner may want to work that way, and from what she said above it seems like they do. I know quite a few men that want a wife to be a stay at home mom while they do the work. Just because your SO doesn't want to work like that doesn't mean you should judge people who have a relationship that works in that way.
  • coltonsmumma
    coltonsmumma Posts: 80 Member
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    I say, if you can make it work the way that makes you happy, go for it!! If you have a partner that realizes your happiness and is cool with it, then who cares?? Only the jealous would feel the need to chew you out and tell you how wrong and selfish you are being.

    ♥ Live Life. ♥
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I think the problem is you're looking at this wrong.

    I have a 9-5 job. It's not a bad gig at all. Pays well. I work with nice people. I'm even using my degree. But I don't enjoy it because it's not my calling. I'm writing, but not the kind of writing I want to do forever. I want to write novels.

    If I won the lottery tomorrow, yes, I would quit my day job. I would travel. But I would also keep writing because it is a part of who I am. It's still a job, but I feel like it gives my life purpose. I wouldn't want to sit on my rear all day watching TV. I want to create and give something to the world.
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    i just dont want to work! haha i want to spend time working out, sewing, being in nature, raising kids and a dog, cleaning the house, being FREE!

    i'm assuming there will be a partner involved that will have to work to support this freedom of yours and purchase a house for you and your children to live in? that hardly seems fair...

    It's hardly fair of you to be so judgmental! Her and her husband/partner may want to work that way, and from what she said above it seems like they do. I know quite a few men that want a wife to be a stay at home mom while they do the work. Just because your SO doesn't want to work like that doesn't mean you should judge people who have a relationship that works in that way.

    no more judgemental than the original poster stating that people who find purpose in a job are so very sad.
  • dipsl19
    dipsl19 Posts: 317 Member
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    i just dont want to work! haha i want to spend time working out, sewing, being in nature, raising kids and a dog, cleaning the house, being FREE!

    i'm assuming there will be a partner involved that will have to work to support this freedom of yours and purchase a house for you and your children to live in? that hardly seems fair...

    It's hardly fair of you to be so judgmental! Her and her husband/partner may want to work that way, and from what she said above it seems like they do. I know quite a few men that want a wife to be a stay at home mom while they do the work. Just because your SO doesn't want to work like that doesn't mean you should judge people who have a relationship that works in that way.


    THANK YOU!!! seriously.. i dont know why people think its their way or the highway... honestly what difference does it make to you? its not your life! live yours, ill live mine. my mom was a stay at home mom and it worked JUST FINE thanks
  • bethdris
    bethdris Posts: 1,090 Member
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    I am a Stay at Home mom...I had more 'down time" before I quit my "real job" to stay home and raise our kids. Its amazing the ppl that think I sit home and eat bon bons while my kids watch themselves. Ummm Im busier now than before. I LOVE my job, however it doesn't keep a roof over our heads, and food in our bellies...I have a wonderful husband who takes care of those items with his job! :)
  • dipsl19
    dipsl19 Posts: 317 Member
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    i just dont want to work! haha i want to spend time working out, sewing, being in nature, raising kids and a dog, cleaning the house, being FREE!

    i'm assuming there will be a partner involved that will have to work to support this freedom of yours and purchase a house for you and your children to live in? that hardly seems fair...

    It's hardly fair of you to be so judgmental! Her and her husband/partner may want to work that way, and from what she said above it seems like they do. I know quite a few men that want a wife to be a stay at home mom while they do the work. Just because your SO doesn't want to work like that doesn't mean you should judge people who have a relationship that works in that way.

    no more judgemental than the original poster stating that people who find purpose in a job are so very sad.


    i DIDNT say that at all. i said i find it sad that , if they didnt have a job, their life would be purposeless. it cant all revolve around your job!.. how about a family , hobbies? im saying if its ALL you have, that is sad. i dont think anyone would argue with me.
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
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    i just dont want to work! haha i want to spend time working out, sewing, being in nature, raising kids and a dog, cleaning the house, being FREE!

    i'm assuming there will be a partner involved that will have to work to support this freedom of yours and purchase a house for you and your children to live in? that hardly seems fair...

    It's hardly fair of you to be so judgmental! Her and her husband/partner may want to work that way, and from what she said above it seems like they do. I know quite a few men that want a wife to be a stay at home mom while they do the work. Just because your SO doesn't want to work like that doesn't mean you should judge people who have a relationship that works in that way.

    no more judgemental than the original poster stating that people who find purpose in a job are so very sad.


    i DIDNT say that at all. i said i find it sad that , if they didnt have a job, their life would be purposeless. it cant all revolve around your job!.. how about a family , hobbies? im saying if its ALL you have, that is sad. i dont think anyone would argue with me.

    Obviously, reading comprehension is hard for her....
  • EmpressOfJudgment
    EmpressOfJudgment Posts: 1,162 Member
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    People tend to get very defensive when you say you don't want to slave your life away at a meaningless job. It often comes from resentment because some people are unhappy and wish they had the balls to give it all up and pursue their dreams.
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    THANK YOU!!! seriously.. i dont know why people think its their way or the highway... honestly what difference does it make to you? its not your life! live yours, ill live mine. my mom was a stay at home mom and it worked JUST FINE thanks

    i liked it better when you called me a b!tch in your post. it seemed to make your position clearer. but i suppose it was better manners to edit it.

    i don't think it's my way or the highway, and i have nothing against stay at home moms. my comment was not directed at raising children at home, but the tone of entitlement i picked up from your post, which of course, was my own interpretaton. i believe that it was you who asked for people's thoughts. my apologies if the whole world doesn't agree with you when you ask it a question.
  • dipsl19
    dipsl19 Posts: 317 Member
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    THANK YOU!!! seriously.. i dont know why people think its their way or the highway... honestly what difference does it make to you? its not your life! live yours, ill live mine. my mom was a stay at home mom and it worked JUST FINE thanks

    i liked it better when you called me a b!tch in your post. it seemed to make your position clearer. but i suppose it was better manners to edit it.

    i don't think it's my way or the highway, and i have nothing against stay at home moms. my comment was not directed at raising children at home, but the tone of entitlement i picked up from your post, which of course, was my own interpretaton. i believe that it was you who asked for people's thoughts. my apologies if the whole world doesn't agree with you when you ask it a question.

    okay, so you just have something against me, whom youve never met... saying that me wanting to stay home would be a burden on my husband.. so that has nothing to do with other stay at home moms.
    right.
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    okay, so you just have something against me, whom youve never met... saying that me wanting to stay home would be a burden on my husband.. so that has nothing to do with other stay at home moms.
    right.

    *edited to get your quote in the quote box - not to remove a potty word.

    yes, i accept your apology for calling me a b1tch and then editing it out so no one else would see. that was very mature and responsible. thank you.
  • mfreeby
    mfreeby Posts: 199 Member
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    Hmmmm well my situation is this: I've worked helping at-risk youth for the past 4 years, rewarding but never what I "WANTED" to do - I did it while I went to school to get a teaching degree, which is was I THOUGHT I really wanted to do. However, this field is horrible right now for jobs and I worked really hard to get on the district sub list. That was 3 years ago and no jobs are available and I only work a couple times a month. So, now the decision has been made to give up my "dream" to just get a full time 9-5 in any job that will take me (well, not like at the mall, I do have a degree) and then persue other efforts that will hopefully lead me into a more interesting and lucrative career perhaps in my 40s??? It's disappointing but I am sick of being focused on my career and just want to "work to live" for a while. I guess everyone struggles with this at some time.
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    Hmmmm well my situation is this: I've worked helping at-risk youth for the past 4 years, rewarding but never what I "WANTED" to do - I did it while I went to school to get a teaching degree, which is was I THOUGHT I really wanted to do. However, this field is horrible right now for jobs and I worked really hard to get on the district sub list. That was 3 years ago and no jobs are available and I only work a couple times a month. So, now the decision has been made to give up my "dream" to just get a full time 9-5 in any job that will take me (well, not like at the mall, I do have a degree) and then persue other efforts that will hopefully lead me into a more interesting and lucrative career perhaps in my 40s??? It's disappointing but I am sick of being focused on my career and just want to "work to live" for a while. I guess everyone struggles with this at some time.

    we're in the same boat! i went back to school for my elementary licensure, and i have taken a few interviews this summer. one of the positions i interviewed for had over 1800 applicants! and it wasn't at a crazy nice private school or anything, but just a fifth grade public school position. i was really bummed out that i didn't get the job, but i think it was pretty cool that i was picked out of such a massive candidate pool.

    it wil happen - good luck to you!
  • rubyrenga
    rubyrenga Posts: 402 Member
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    I think the problem is you're looking at this wrong.

    I have a 9-5 job. It's not a bad gig at all. Pays well. I work with nice people. I'm even using my degree. But I don't enjoy it because it's not my calling. I'm writing, but not the kind of writing I want to do forever. I want to write novels.

    If I won the lottery tomorrow, yes, I would quit my day job. I would travel. But I would also keep writing because it is a part of who I am. It's still a job, but I feel like it gives my life purpose. I wouldn't want to sit on my rear all day watching TV. I want to create and give something to the world.

    Wow, I'm in the exact same boat. I have a journalism degree, and while I am writing, it isn't what I want to be doing at all...I mean the type of writing I'd like to be doing. I also want to create something special in my lifetime. I wrote the first draft of a novel last month for NaNoWriMo. It happens every November, and I think that without it, I would never have had the discipline to complete the project (of course, I still need to edit the whole thing, but that's another story). If you haven't heard of it, you should check it out! Good luck!


    I agree with Marcia36, and I don't know why people seem to get defensive when someone says they don't want to work. It's not like she's planning to live off social services or something, so why should it bother anyone else. I have to say, I feel the same way. I do want to contribute my talents to the world in some way, and if I were able to not work, I would get involved in charity work, etc. But I think it is a good thing not to resign oneself to working away one's life, especially if it is done in a career/job that is not fulfilling. I have always felt the same way, that there must be something more to life than the daily grind. I think it is about finding something that you can be passionate about and using the gifts you are given in some way, and the money to do whatever it is and live your life will come when you follow that goal.
  • EmpressOfJudgment
    EmpressOfJudgment Posts: 1,162 Member
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    I agree with Marcia36, and I don't know why people seem to get defensive when someone says they don't want to work. It's not like she's planning to live off social services or something, so why should it bother anyone else. I have to say, I feel the same way. I do want to contribute my talents to the world in some way, and if I were able to not work, I would get involved in charity work, etc. But I think it is a good thing not to resign oneself to working away one's life, especially if it is done in a career/job that is not fulfilling. I have always felt the same way, that there must be something more to life than the daily grind. I think it is about finding something that you can be passionate about and using the gifts you are given in some way, and the money to do whatever it is and live your life will come when you follow that goal.
    EXACTLY!! Thank you very much.

    Also, my bf is a self employed aspiring writer. I'm going to tell him about NaNoWriMo. Thanks!

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