why don't you try and do some voluntary work- very rewarding & charities are crying out for volunteers.
I work full time (love the job) but also get great satisfaction from helping as a volunteer 3hrs a week.
There are sooo many charities from drugs & alcohol to dog walking
its very difficult to put it into practice, the old saying of is the grass greener on the other side.
i used to be very work and finacially driven till my kids came along, then had to rethink what i was doing and ended up doing a job i hated but was sort of ok money but gave me time with family.
im now getting divorced which i would not say was related to it but i have looked back at things i have done and not done, one of the reasons for coming here for example as i only ever been with 2 women in my life.
i think having a better quality of life is better than having lots of money, but downsizing as they say has it problems and you will always look back at it and say i wish we could do that but dont have the money. On the other hand you could say the same thing about when you are older and very stressed and say wish i had taken it easier.
not sure if this helps in anyway, i have only ever regretted one thing in my life and wish i had never done, but i will always try things at least once otherwise i will always think back and say what if.
if it does go wrong you can say well i tried, and i learnt from the experiance
Unhappy at work?
You spend nearly half your life at work, why would you spend your time doing something you don't like? You have to decide whether the money you earn compensates for your unhappiness.
Me, I've got a poorly paid job but it has huge job satisfaction. I wouldn't readily change it just to earn a few quid more.
If you're unhappy with your life you could try putting something back into the community. I help organise a food collection for a homeless shelter. I'm writing a charity quiznight to be done at the end of the month. These are all rewarding things that can be done by anyone who wants to help others.
If I had the choice of happyness or being welloff - I would choose happyness. Money doesn't make you happy - well it hasn't made me happy.
I often challange people when they say an education is key to success (or talk about putting their kids into the "best" schools), as their thinking usually goes that education equals more money and more money equals success (and sucess equals happyness). I would say I see many more happy dustmen than I do office workers.
All that said - I've done nothing about it and still work in an office earning share holders more money.
I can understand the type of decision making process you are going thru... because i can see it in me 5-6 years past.....
I left a bloody good job (30k at the time) but i wasn't happy in the job anymore... to do something which was as in nowhere near that now...but i love the job
best decision i ever made!!!!!
yes you have to get thru the monetary adjusting process and cutting your cloth accordingly, and i am not saying that it isn't hard... because for me it was.....
but dreading getting up in the morning going to work is something i hope i never have to go thru again.... because that isn't nice... and life is just too short.....
I tell people i am rich of heart but poor of pocket..... but i am so much happier i don't care and wouldn't have it any other way.....
a saw a ex collegue about 9 months after i left..... they said i looks so much better and happier that at the end.... i said it just felt like a whole weight had been lifted from my shoulders........
sean xxxxxxxxxxx
Oh and by the way I wanna be so fecking rich it's unbelievable :giggle: does that answer your question?
I used to work in management. I had a good salary, but with it also came the 70 hour week, never seeing the family and being too tired when I did to really give them my full attention. Then I lost my brother, and it made me totally re-assess my life. I gave the job up, and went off to work in a factory, at half my previous salary.................and I've never been happier. Yes, it would be nice to earn a bit more, but we are comfortable, we have enough money to do the things we want to do, and more importantly, we have the time to do them.
I know it's a trite old saying, but life is too short to spend it being unhappy.
I only want money so I can do what I want to do. I only work to get that money. There are other reason I do this job, but I work for money, so I can do what I want to. If I could do what I want without work I would stop working.
In other words I would like to live my own life, not others. As it is I work so I can live the rest of the time as I choose.
Travis.
i feel you can see markz in the dog :) 
Scandal
:banghead: :banghead: 
him at the next munch 
:
I own a pair of Blue wellies (with flowers on), a sexy black pair of boots, a nice beige pair of heeled boots, a pair of black court shoes, some sparkly slip ons and some oneil flip flop thingys and I thought that was loads :P but since joining here I now know differently 
)
