Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think plenty of people have both and are happy with both. I don't think it's uncommon for someone to have a good career that pays well and offers nice advancement opportunities, a wonderful partner or spouse, one or more kids (and yes spends quality time with them), a hobby or two on the side, and a nice social life with friends. Yes, this includes demanding occupations in the medical, tech or legal fields, as well as professions that require some domestic and/or international business travel. It boils down to priorities. It may be challenging at times, and some compromises may have to be made (for instance, living in an area that's good for kids and/or good for your partner's line of work and/or has good commute)...but the bottom line is that at least some of these people are able to make it all work.
That said, yes, there are situations where someone may have no choice but to choose...to perhaps not take that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or give up their "dream" job in their life. One example is if a married couple has a special-needs child that requires a lot of attention...that full-time awesome job that pays $120K/year may have to be given up and replaced with a lower-paying part-time or flexible-hour job that allows him to be at home more often.
...and, in the example you stated, taking a pay cut or leaving your job to care for your special needs child full time can be a definite catch-22, given the often astronomical health, education, and therapy costs that can be involved in caring for said child. As a special education teacher, I have often seen the hardship that occurs when a parent both can't afford to work F/T and can't afford NOT to.
i havent dated in a few years, mainly because im focusing on my career and where i want to be. i know exactly where i want to be and im inching closer to my career goals. once im satisfied i will explode on the dating scene. ive passed on a lot of opportunities to date, but i usually just end up hanging out with a girl and then move on to the next.
A lot of my feelings on this hinged quite a bit on age/stage of life, for me personally.
When I was a recent college graduate, I was all about getting my career started, and relationships/dating were really a back burner priority priority. My first two years out of college, I actually actively avoided dating even casually...it just wasn't on my radar, because I was focused on establishing myself professionally, to the exclusion of all else. Flash forward a decade or so, and while I like my career and am good at what I do, relationships/family hold a lot more personal value and significance to me. It wasn't a hard choice at all to put my work on hold for my relationship when the opportunity to do so without incurring financial hardship in our household occurred.
I don't believe in dream jobs! Unless you are lucky enough to know exactly what you love to do, it can make money, and you have all the abilities it takes to run a business, I don't think most of us will ever find that.
I do believe in good relationships so I would take love. It make make a crappy job seem not as important.
(singing)
Dream job
You make my heart throb
You make everything grooo-vee
A very kind, sensitive man/woman ... but you have a dream job on the other side of the planet.
I hate to admit ... as much a romantic as I am, I'd choose career.
Love doesn't pay the bills, so I wouldn't waste her time or mine. However, I would do all I could to have the dream job and keep the s/o.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.