Take a moment and think back on the last important decision you made.
What sort of things went into making that decision? What were the determining factors? How did you ultimately come to your decision? Did you weigh the pros and cons of each option? Did you think of how your choices would affect your future? Or did you just go with your "gut"?
Looking at what society tells us about making choices, we find two very distinct and very opposite philosophies on decision making. There's the "grow up" school of thought and there's the "follow your heart" school of thought. Both of which are fairly self explanatory though I'm going to be expounding on them anyways for those who might not be in the know.
The "grow up" idea is that life is a tough place full of difficult decisions where sometimes you're not faced with a good or bad set of options. It's either bad...or equally bad in other ways. This is the world where you come to realize that your elementary school dreams of becoming a astronaut or a super hero are a little beyond your reach. When curing cancer or exploring the world takes a backseat to paying the rent and buying groceries.
Then there's the "follow your heart" way of thinking. This idea is romanticized relentlessly in today's pop culture media and seems to have come up in direct conflict with the previous idea. Most times, when you see this idea either in books or in movies, it is set alongside the "grow up" model of thinking as a way of showing that it's "better". We see some poor, miserable mook forced to work in some job he hates in the hopes that he'll eventually ascend the corporate ladder to something marginally less miserable. Then, in comes this happy, free, ray of sunshine who has chosen to do what their heart decides and so they're happy. The mook sees the error of his ways, casts off his shackles and dances off with his brethren.
Now, there's a bit of a problem with this idealized notion of happiness? It's not real.
There's a saying that goes "Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life." I certainly agree with that statement. However, if you spend all your time only seeking out that perfect job you'll also never work a day in your life. These movies and books rarely point out the fact that these "happy" people are often forced to depend on the state to support them while they continually try to "find themselves". If they aren't leeching off the state, they're leeching off of friends and family.
There's nothing wrong with having a dream or a goal that you want to strive for. You should simply be willing to take the steps to get to that goal and be able to support yourself in the meantime. Just because you start in that crappy job doesn't mean you have to stay in it forever. Like with most things in life, the best decision isn't one extreme or another, but moderation.
