Career vs. Passion Round 1

So while I was sitting here at work I began to think about what I want to do with my life. I am three months into my career in the tax field and can't figure out if I actually enjoy it or completely despise it. I listen to ESPN radio for the majority of my work day and it always makes me wish I had a talk show or had my own sports column instead of entering numbers and printing reports. I know many people say that you should do what you love, and while I agree that is important the truth is that isn't always possible. I know I personally would love to be Bill Simmons and write about current sports events, MTV reality shows, and my favorite hometown sports teams all while going to games, meeting athletes, making my weekly NFL picks (if gambling were legal), and playing with the NBA trade machine constantly and still collect a paycheck from the Worldwide Leader. But the one thing I learned in college is that you have to get the piece of paper and it has to be something that can actually get you a job if you want to survive on your own. I know for me I loved history in high school, but yet had I been a history major I would have had two options. 1. I could have gone to law school, not a bad idea, but not something I was passionate enough about to actually go into debt and pursue. 2. Become a history teacher. I have always thought about being a teacher but it was more for the fun I could have writing tests where all the answers are C, or just one question, etc. etc. While I think this could be fun at some point it was definitely not what I wanted to do forever. A friend of mine did what he "loved" for three years only to be away from school for a bit and realize that he wasn't going to be able to support a family by doing that. Which brings me to my point. Other than a few incredibly lucky individuals most people could only do what they "love" if all professions paid equally. Of course this is not the case, and therefore we must find alternative ways to do what we love, whether it be writing about things on a blog like this, or spending our non-working hours indulged in our passions. The truth is that my interest in my job along with the paycheck I recieve are enough to get me out of bed in the morning, but not what I see myself doing forever. I think the most important thing to realize is that everyone who has ever done anything with their lives/careers has had to do the boring entry level work. I think that in order to actually do what you really love you have to spend some time doing something that you do not necessarily love so that you will be financially prepared and equally eager to jump on opportunities to do what it is you really want to pursue. In order to know what you really like, you must also know what you do not like. I plan to use this job as a learning experience to get in a position that I can start my own company, or pursue a career that makes me want to get up early every morning to pursue. In the meantime I will continue to listen to ESPN radio, rant and rave about it, and read as much as I can about any and every topic so that I will be a better more well rounded individual when I am doing what it is I actually love to do. ESPN you can call me at anytime, I will be here...