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Date Posted:
12/9/02

 

 

Choosing a Career: A Vital Decision

By Alex Rabin




Throughout life, there are many difficult decisions that need to be made. Some of the choices are vital and serve as the crux for determining life's path. One primary question that people have to ask themselves is what they want to do with their lives. The question is not only to determine what they want to achieve, but also what they hope to obtain through a career. There are numerous possibilities and this decision can affect your life dramatically. Many times the decision is whether to lead a life steered by a hunt for riches or fulfillment through a job that provides happiness. Some try to find a compromise that combines these two objectives and seek careers that provide a fair amount of compensation as well as a challenging, intellectually stimulating and satisfying work environment.

In our society, many are in a hasty dash for gold and their lives are based upon the search for wealth and money. The essential good of their existence is to become the well-heeled aristocrats of our civilization. Other people are motivated by other factors. The focal point of their existence is a feeling of accomplishment in their jobs. It's like being trapped between two magnetic fields each repelling each other. All around our society you can see people taking part in these two forces. It is everywhere.

While not true in every case, we might look at some lawyers, stockbrokers and CEO's as people who are out for money. Many of these people set out to make money, be rich and to support themselves in extreme comfort. Cash is the key to their contentment and happiness. Fulfillment through their jobs is of no importance, especially when compared to cold hard cash. Such people are able to work long, arduous, tedious days as long as an enormous paycheck is at the end. Whether this is the life for you is a personal question. It depends on your temperament and the kind of person you are. If money and a wild lifestyle of luxury cars and enormous houses are your major desires, then go for it. These people argue that without making a good living, you will not be able to support yourself and live a comfortable, joyful life. This is what is important to them and puts them in high spirits.

Other people envision lives guided by excitement and gratification in their jobs, such as in teachers, musicians and artists. These people are not motivated by money but yearn to achieve happiness by doing what they adore this is what makes them satisfied. To these people, money is not the most important part of their lives. They are prepared to sacrifice high pay for a job that is pleasurable and full of happiness. If you are able to live with a less amount of money in order to have fulfillment in your job, then this is for you. People who choose this existence argue that life is short and what's the point of living and sucking the fun out of it. They maintain the point of continuing is to be happy and to enjoy yourself by doing what they love, basically saying what is the point of spending endless hours doing work from which you don't get pleasure and satisfaction. What is the point of only getting a job for the simple fact of obtaining money? It's just an empty achievement.

Which choice is better? I think it is too broad and too different a question to answer. Neither lifestyle can be seen as the correct way of living. It really depends on the individual and what is most suitable for them. You cannot base your life on another's life and what others think. It should be based upon what makes you happiest and what you are searching for. My personal opinion is that both points are good and you need a little bit of both. It is important to have both money to support yourself and contentment in your job to find happiness. So my advice is to try to achieve both and seek a mixture of the two lifestyles. If you can do this than you are truly fortunate and will most likely enjoy your life. It is difficult to do this and those who can obtain this ideal career are the most fortunate people in the world.

 

For places to make career choices:

 

 

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