I'm a licensed engineer. I'm grateful that my current job has paid for lots of things, like a house, and creature comforts that used to feel important. I'm also grateful my choice of major was a smart one, in that scholarships and funded projects in undergrad and grad school were relatively easy to apply for and be awarded.
But I'm getting damn tired of being told every day to do things faster, keep my billed hours within a budget that I never agreed to, and to be generally more efficient. The more people tell me to go faster, the slower my body wants to go. I get headaches every day as soon as I sit down at my desk. I force myself to focus for some time, then I'm exhausted at the end of every day and don't have the energy for the things I used to enjoy doing.
I just can't bring myself to try to do better in this field anymore. I've given it all of my energy since I was 17. I used to drink too much coffee to keep myself going, but I cut that out recently, and I realized it was the only thing keeping me motivated to keep showing up to this work.
It sounds completely insane, but I think I want to quit my job to work with animals. It would be a huge pay cut, but I literally can't bring myself to show up to my job anymore, and it shows. I'm noticing that the only time I really enjoy out of my day lately is my dog sitting and walking jobs I've taken on as hobbies and hanging out with my own dog.
Am I crazy to take a more than 50% pay cut, and work my way back up to a livable wage again after a few years? If it's something I'm passionate about, and enjoy doing, theoretically it won't make me want to sleep all damn day, which is what's currently happening.