Maybe we look inside
I worked at a soft drink distributor for ten years and loved it. My position was eliminated and I was fortunate because my wife had a great career and so we weren't facing living in a cardboard box and eating scraps we could find in a dumpster. I took a job making a third of what I had been making and really enjoyed the experience and then something paying a lot better came along and I took it and worked in banking for over a decade and loved it.
The bank was eventually sold and another purchased bank eventually ended up as the dominant entity. I really didn't care that much for this controlling entity, so I took a whack to my compensation again and moved to a new industry, technology, and I'm having a blast again.
In over 3 decades in industry I've had exactly 1 job for a few months that I really didn't care for. My wife hasn't ever had that experience. Part of this I believe is finding our niche; part of this is making our niche.
A big part of the "happiness" equation is making the choice to approach life in this regard. I know a lot of folks are going to disagree with this "rose-colored glasses," "glass half-full" perspective, but we're 100% in control of our response in all situations. Admitting that, however, requires us to accept some very hefty personal responsibility. Most of us would prefer to blame our coworkers, our boss, our pay, our parents, our...For me I chose not to allow those to be an option and for me my rose-colored glasses and glass half full worked. This paradigm is not for everyone obviously, but for me it sure has made for a most exceptional journey.
