That's too bad. Why should't a job be enjoyable? For the past 25 years - since I moved to France - I've had a number of jobs, changing every 5-10 years, and I've never been in a situation when I would wake up in the morning and not want to go to work.

I like to separare things. Job can be enjoyable in which case you are lucky. But if it is not really enjoyable even though you sill have to do it for living, then you have two options:
Either you try to convince yourself that it is not that bad and pretend to enjoy it; or you simply accept the fact that your job is part of your life that allows you to do enjoyable things (but is itself not enjoyable).

Unless it is a real torture, a job does not need to be fun for me, like homeworks at school. I don't remember the school times very much in detail but I don't think I have ever done a homework with a bigger enthusiasm than for playing outside with friends. Now it's similar, I never experience a weekend morning where I wish I would go to work

I like to separare things. Job can be enjoyable in which case you are lucky. But if it is not really enjoyable even though you sill have to do it for living, then you have two options:
Either you try to convince yourself that it is not that bad and pretend to enjoy it; or you simply accept the fact that your job is part of your life that allows you to do enjoyable things (but is itself not enjoyable).

I don't know, but I find that kind of sad. You seem resigned to the fact that nearly half of your waking life is doing something that you don't like...

Maybe it's sad, but what can you do about it?

How do you find something that would make you happy, though? Apart from something like moving to the islands and becoming a charter boat captain, to take tourists fishing, I've never really had anything sound appealing.

I don't know, but I find that kind of sad. You seem resigned to the fact that nearly half of your waking life is doing something that you don't like...

To add to this, I think that I have a lot of mood swings. One day I can think that my job is not that bad, and that things are looking up. But then the next day, I can feel bored with it.

Maybe I could compare it to looking at a piece of artwork. Maybe it's a great piece of artwork, and I really like it one day. But if I have to look at it every day, it starts to get old.

Is it really possible to find a piece of artwork that you'll admire for the rest of your career?

i dont mind doing whatever they task me to do

an officer of the army

How do you find something that would make you happy, though? Apart from something like moving to the islands and becoming a charter boat captain, to take tourists fishing, I've never really had anything sound appealing.

But remember, romanticized dream jobs can have their unpleasant parts too. So if you can't find a way to enjoy your job now, its not likely that you'll enjoy your fantasy either (not always true, but most usually true).

This is kind of what I figure, and part of why I just try to have a job that's as low-stress as I can. Still trying to brainstorm for something realistic that I could do that I might enjoy.

Does moving to the islands and becoming a charter boat captain sound appealing?

Then go do that. Its really that simple.

Yes, there might be some hurdles along the way. But nothing that can't be dealt with one way or another.

But remember, romanticized dream jobs can have their unpleasant parts too. So if you can't find a way to enjoy your job now, its not likely that you'll enjoy your fantasy either (not always true, but most usually true).

I enjoyed almost every job I ever had. From flipping burgers to operating printing presses to software testing. The only time I didn't enjoy my job was usually when the people I worked with were difficult (which was actually quite rare)

I’ve spent some thirty years now in a technical field – electronics, to be more specific. At various times, I’ve found this career choice to be interesting, fruitful, rewarding, frustrating, and boring. One of the best features has been good pay. (That’s the rewarding part.) But, I cannot honestly list “fulfilling” as one of the adjectives. I think I’m pretty good at what I do (although I know people who could run circles around me in my field), and I’ve usually tried to do a good job at it. At times it has brought personal satisfaction – but not often.

And not lasting satisfaction. After all those years designing high-tech goodies for various applications, nothing I designed a decade ago still exists, and the things I design now will not exist in another decade.. Nor do I “own” anything I’ve designed. Products I’ve designed are owned by the companies I’ve worked for, and none of them are anything I would want to own, anyway. Any satisfaction I get from my work is short-lived; it’s the satisfaction of making something work, of fixing problems in our products, of coming up with a clever design or new solution. But where are those things, now? I cannot point with pride to anything from my professional career and say, “I did that!”

Life is rarely simple. It doesn’t always go as one wants, and challenges are ever present. For me, this lack of professional fulfillment is one of those challenges. The transition I am undertaking is an attempt to address this challenge.

It may prove difficult, for many reasons. I can’t simply give up my career – personal and family economics and responsibilities prohibit that. Finding time to develop a new vocation is difficult – work, kids, and life’s activities and commitments take up a lot of time. New skills must be acquired, investments made. Starting anew will involve making many mistakes, and perseverance requires a certain fortitude – or maybe a certain naive optimism (which doesn’t come easily to me!) And, of course, there’s fear of failure – for all I know, I’ll be a total bust at this new vocation! Maybe I’ll hate it.

But difficult isn’t impossible, and the fear is entirely my own making. And as they say, a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

Find a new job? Train yourself in something different? Go back to school? Don't resign yourself to being unhappy?

It may not be easy to make changes like that, but if you're really unhappy in your work, every day you put off trying to change is another day of unhappiness.

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Try not to be one of them.