It’s one of the great dilemmas in life…

A lot of folks are told to “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” when they’re younger, but let’s be honest: that works out for very few people.

Most people fall into a job in one way or another and it’s just something they tolerate.

Also, what happens if you pursue what you love to do and it just doesn’t pay the bills?

That’s what’s going on with the person who wrote this story and they’re experiencing a lot of inner turmoil about what to do next.

Let’s take a look!

Leaving a job I enjoy because it doesn’t pay the bills.

“I work part time as a lab assistant at my local community college and I love what I do.

I love the work, getting to learn from professors and educators, participating and preparing biology and chemistry labs, having my extremely flexible work schedule, and not being micromanaged.

There’s always some kind of drawback…

This job would be perfect if it was full time, but the school’s budget only allows for 20 hours/week for the lab assistant position, and I just can’t live off of $1,000 a month.

I’ve been looking at full time work and I have an interview next week for a hand soldering job that would be full time, M-Th 5:30 am-3:30 pm, benefits, significantly better pay, etc.

They’re having a serious dilemma about this.

I know that the financial breathing room would dramatically increase my quality of life, but I’m already grieving giving up something I love doing, something that is honestly perfect for me, and I haven’t even had the interview at the other place yet.

Maybe I’m looking for shared experiences, or words of encouragement. Or maybe I just need someone to tell me to suck it up because life isn’t fair.

I’ve spent all but one year of my time working doing soul sucking work and I’m dreading going back to it because that’s what pays the bills.”

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a group of employees who walked out of a meeting after hearing about their company’s new overtime policy.

Take a look at how readers reacted.

This person weighed in.

Another reader had a lot to say.

This individual shared their thoughts.

This person asked a question.

And this individual spoke up.

What would you do in this situation?

It’s important to keep your dreams alive, but people have to be realistic.

It’s just the way it goes!

You gotta do what you gotta do to pay the bills…it’s a sad fact of life…

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a person whose colleague expected them to help pay for 11 elaborate birthday cakes they never agreed to buy.