Do the things you love

And do them often. Find ways to enjoy every day, and as many minutes of it as possible.

If you have got to make a choice - any choice - in life, ask yourself if this choice will still matter in fifty years, and if yes, if it will make you happy. When choosing your career - will you find anything about your chosen career that will make you happy? Try thinking outside the box, too. A friend of mine wanted to help people, and she pursued a kinf od work where she thought she would do just that, but she did not find a job. So she switched lanes - now she works at a shop and makes her customers happy, and she loves it. (Plus she gets to play with technology all the time.)

When I finished school, like about every young person in the world I did not really know what to do. I liked psychology, but suspected my mind was crooked enough without it. I also liked medicine, but I tend to work sloppy when I am tired, and I did not want people's (or animals') lives to depend on me getting enough shut-eye. I liked cooking, but not enough to put up with the insane working hours (late nights, holidays and such). One thing I did like without any second guesses was - languages.

I studied to become a translator, and ever since taking up this particular line of work, haven't regretted it for one moment.  I get to play with words, I get to learn new stuff every day and help people with communication. Even on really crappy days when the boss is in a bad mood and the colleagues are stressed and the clients are upset about something, and the technology decides that it cannot possibly work today and I then spill coffee over my files - I still love translating. (I also do love translating in the medical field, but that is just a bonus. I'd translate mannuals as well.) And this is why I don't mind taking on other translating tasks besides the seven-hour work-days we've got at the office. I've come home, done a minimum of housework (enough so we won't get rats), and now I am looking forward to finishing one product (politics) and continuing with a larger one (comics and literature). That is what my evening will look like.

When things get this busy, the BF sometimes complains, but I honestly can't help him with this one. I am not cuddly when I am in the middle of projects, and my mind is set on finishing stuff and managing everything else, and I cannot wait to get back to my work.

Twelve or fourteen hours of translation per day? Bring it on, I love it. Can't see myself burning out over this kind of work anytime soon (although I suspect there should be a break sometime at the beginning of December).

And that is why you should do the things you love.