We've probably all have an image of the perfect low-stress, stimulating, and (financially) rewarding job. But that's just a fantasy. Besides, a dream job is a moving target, since your wants and needs change over time.

No job is perfect; I think the best you can do is find a place where you feel like an integral part of things, where you can do good work, be recognized for your contributions, be compensated fairly, and have the flexibility to be there for the important people and events in your life.

Then again, for a lot of people lately, their dream job is simply one that pays the bills.

I once had a dream job. I won't go into detail, but many would probably consider it a dream job. But, just as you pointed out, Rick, that dream job eventually just turned into a job. Because I liked what I was doing so much it seemed that everything came too easy, and the challenge just wasn't there. I spent nine years doing that dream job, then I went back to school.

I found yet another dream job after getting out of school. 13 years later, that dream job isn't just a regular job anymore - it's a boring waste of my time and talents.

That dream job is just like a sports franchise - it can be on top for a while, a dynasty, if you will, but eventually you have to retool and rebuild and that can take many seasons. Doesn't matter how good your front office personel are, every team has to go through it at some point.

yes, there was a dream job my time. But time didn't stand still. Things changed and I did not. Now I am as extinct as a dinosaur. I was warned years ago, but didn't listen. Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day You fritter and waste the hours away. Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town waiting for someone or something to show you the way. Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch it rain. You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun. So you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death. The time is gone, the song is over, Thought I'd something more to say.

If it exists for a person, it will be just like a good marriage - both person and situation changing continuously over time, but changing in harmony with one another.

There is no such thing as perfect, but there can be awfully good!!

There isn't anything like a dream job. All jobs have unforseen challenges. Once I thought I had a dream job, but that's when the organisation I was working for started it's re-structuring exercise, and in the process everyone in my department was given notice of non-renewal of contracts!

Thanks to Julie, Jimmy Spade, gumboot, ConHake, and Nsama for your comments!

Yes, dream jobs, just like dreams, don't last forever. When it comes to work, the degree of happiness with a job depends on how many personal needs it fills. And of course, those needs change with time.

@ gumboot -- Pink Floyd rules!

~ Rick

i'm wondering how often people leave jobs they are happy with in the pursuit of more money. i guess everyone would ask 'how much more?'. can you really put a price on happiness? apparently you can. that's pretty sad. i mean, in the end, you'd have a ton of material objects, but you aren't happy. it's the plot of a ton of books/movies so it must be true, right?

Hi BarBar!

Whenever I hear someone say they strive to be "filthy stinkin' rich" or "make lots of money, no matter what," my reaction is always the same: You can't take it with you. I suppose there are some out there whose big "dream" is focused on making a lot of money. But I agree with you: Happiness doesn't carry a price tag. I know of people who made lots of money, only to give it up later for something that would make them happier.

I think most of us are George Baileys rather than Gordon Gekkos.

Best regards, ~ Rick

Gumboot,

Thank you so much for referring to the Pink Floyd tune.

It is true - the intro to the Wizard of Oz was actually made to coincide with the beginning of Dark Side of the Moon.

There is no dark side of the moon...matter of fact, it's all dark.

Gumboot, I need to know who you are. You have shown, through you Pink Floydian post, that I may possibly enjoy working with you.

I need to know who you are. If only Pongo had some sort of way that we could communicate offline. I'd hire anyone who can quote a Pink Floyd tune.

Dear Jimmy Spade: ya gotta load a lot of juke box records at 3am in a 24 hour always open coney,check every coin slot and keyboard to assure that a-101 plays the proper selection.