"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them," wrote Henry David Thoreau in 1854. In our modern times of economicdownturns, it would seem that any job that brings in a salary (particularly a high salary)would be worth the desperation if only we could then buy things we do or do not really need. But conspicuous consumption is never quite as fulfilling as self-actualization; it is therefore much more important to feel passionate about one's job, not just one's paycheck.
Working just for the money can have serious soul-deadening repercussions: How often do we hear of a "disgruntled" employee, who feels neglected or abused by his co-workers, arriving at work one day carrying an M-16 automatic rifle? At the other extreme,how often do we hear of an employee who works at boring job for 40 years, then retires and realizes she has no idea what to do with the rest of her life?
In 1943, the psychologist Abraham Maslow published his "Hierarchy of Needs"-those elements that truly motivate us to act, whether for self-preservation or for self-fulfillment.Lowest on the pyramid is physiological-the need for food and shelter. Highest is self- actualization-the need to use our minds to be creative and solve problems (to be all that we can be). A 2001 survey of Australian employees indicated that it was not the salary that kept the top-performing employees motivated; on the contrary, it was "career and learning opportunities"and "challenging, stretching work"
If you feel that you are wasting your life in a dead-end job, you have many options available to you, from approaching your boss with ideas for how you can make more of a creative contribution to the company, to quitting and starting your own business doing something you love to do (like leading fly-fishing tours or selling hand-made quilts at crafts fairs). The important thing is to try and take charge of your own life. Thoreau learned this lesson early in his life, and we need to follow his wise words: "I... because l wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life... and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" meaningful.