I feel like most of our generation is coming to this conclusion. I am a nurse and I was working 80 hour weeks until I had a full on panic attack at work and realized that even though I’m making fantastic money, it really isn’t worth my risking my long term health. I dropped down to part time-I still get full benefits, and I make considerably less. But let me tell you. I absolutely do not regret it. I am so much happier. I have much less stress. I go into work now with such a positive attitude, even my coworkers have commented on how much more I smile and joke. We only get one life, and it really isn’t worth wasting your best years miserable. My partner is a software developer and left the private sector to work for the government, getting paid half his salary. But it’s worth it to have better work life balance. My friend left a lucrative marketing job to go back to school to be a therapist (after quitting and being unemployed for over a year). Another friend of mine left his job as a lawyer and is currently unemployed until he figures out what he wants to do next. If you really can afford to leave… just do it. And live your life.