Don't eat vegetables. Don't pursue careers that are hard. Don't make your bed.
Don't give your wife a birthday present if birthday presents aren't important to you.
Why does "if the mere thought of it is depressing, don't devote your life to it" read as "don't pursue careers that are hard" to you? There's a huge difference between something that is challenging that you have to work at and something that drains your happiness and squashes your soul.
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· 6 years ago
There's a great show, it's an anime, on Netflix called Silver Spoon. It's about a city boy who runs away from his oppressive parents to an agricultural school.
One of the friends he makes along the way wants to be a veterinarian, but he gets sick and depressed at the sight of blood or dying animals. He decides that reaching his goal is worth more than avoiding the things that make him sad, sick, or depressed.
It's just a show, but in real life, there are people who get depressed when they think about dying animals and that's exactly why they want to be a vet.
There are people who get depressed thinking that kids live in the inner city. Teach for America puts those same people in the inner city with those kids on purpose. They're the most motivated to help.
Those careers are hard, way harder than working for the fidget spinner app startup, or whatever the people at Buzzfeed do, but they're heaps more rewarding.
I agree that people should stay out of things that are draining and give nothing back, but anyone who's had a kid might have some different perspectives on doing something for someone else, even if it's hard, taxing, even depressing.
Ah okay, I think we're reading "depressing" two different ways here. I don't see the post as saying "If the thought of something makes you sad, don't do it." I think it's more about "if you see an activity as something that will be mentally/emotionally/physically/spiritually draining for as long as you're doing it, if the thought of it means you won't feel happiness again, don't do it." I was once finishing my doctorate, on the brink of entering a field that I knew would drain my happiness; even though I loved the subject, the actual workplace would have ruined me. In that case it was absolutely not a good idea to keep at it. Now, I work with people who have experienced trauma, which is often depressing but in a completely different way, and it is ultimately rewarding.
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· 6 years ago
I'm in the middle of that too. Leaving an environment that's toxic, though the job itself isn't half bad, for a job that's harder but an environment that's less damaging.
At the end of the day, it's all for my family though, even if it's hard on me.
It can be difficult to find that balance between what's best for you and what would help your family the most. I hope my children take my example of not staying in a toxic environment to heart because I think it's easy to forget to take care of yourself when you have others depending on you.
Don't give your wife a birthday present if birthday presents aren't important to you.
One of the friends he makes along the way wants to be a veterinarian, but he gets sick and depressed at the sight of blood or dying animals. He decides that reaching his goal is worth more than avoiding the things that make him sad, sick, or depressed.
It's just a show, but in real life, there are people who get depressed when they think about dying animals and that's exactly why they want to be a vet.
There are people who get depressed thinking that kids live in the inner city. Teach for America puts those same people in the inner city with those kids on purpose. They're the most motivated to help.
Those careers are hard, way harder than working for the fidget spinner app startup, or whatever the people at Buzzfeed do, but they're heaps more rewarding.
At the end of the day, it's all for my family though, even if it's hard on me.