Last surprise is that boredom for me was real. 16 hours a day, 7 days a week is a lot of time to fill
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/hello-from-canada-99808.html
Find something that you like doing, and more importantly, something that you can do for many hours per day, every day
People are right - the grass isn’t always greener
Wow, I read your thread above. Your experiences are so foreign to me, but it shows how people can be wired very differently from each other.
It drives home a couple of good points:
- have something to FIRE towards, not just FIREing away from a stressful, unenjoyable job.
- and also, maybe, the accumulation and management of assets and net worth can be a worthwhile pursuit in itself, and FIRE can be a mirage for some.
I read about an old lady who died whom everybody thought she was poor because she lived such an austere life. Turned out she died with millions of dollars worth of stocks in her name. Who's to say she didn't enjoy her life watching the assets stockpile? Just because you enjoy accumulating wealth, doesn't make that interest any less noble than people pursuing travel, arts, literature, etc.
Maybe FIRE just entails finding a less stressful, more enjoyable job to keep on growing your net worth. For some people, a job gives them structure, purpose, self-esteem and social contact. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I think folks need to really examine what makes them happy and be honest with themselves, before they chase after what everybody else tells them will make them happy.