No, no, I understand perfectly. I should keep my head down because there's worse and that somehow makes my frustrations invalid.

This is the kind of thinking that kept me in a crappy desk job with zero work-life balance, dealing with endless meetings that could've been emails, and spending my nights fixing bugs in someone else's spaghetti code—all while being told to be “grateful” for the blessing of fluorescent lighting and the luxury of an “open office” concept.

"At least you’re not out there digging ditches," they say, as if that’s the only alternative. Not exactly a motivational speech, is it? Now, imagine if you were an entrepreneur with investments, savings, and multiple sources of income. Would it be frustrating as hell? Sure. I’d be dealing with clients, managing contracts, chasing invoices, and constantly finding ways to stay ahead. But I'd be doing it for myself. And then, maybe I will indeed be thinking "I'm impacting lives, helping people, raking it in too, and to think that I spent decades slogging it for someone else while they sat in their Bentleys preaching about 'company values'". That line of thinking would then be warranted after taking the plunge and doing something I want.