Love or money?

I know the answer should always, be love.

But lately I’m kind of worried about that answer.

Sometimes you can’t choose love over money.

I’m not talking about having to choose between some poor farm boy who happens to be the love of your life or Danny the no-personality-Ivy-League-graduate-soon-to-be-big-time-lawyer.

I’m talking about choosing between love and money when it comes to deciding on a career.

If everyone decided to choose money, then we’d have a real problem.

We wouldn’t have teachers, social workers, journalists or non-profit workers.

We wouldn’t have writers, musicians or artists.

You could argue that people become singers because they dream of the big bucks.

But I don’t think anyone in the arts field could be successful with that mode of thinking.

A person can’t just sing, “I want you to like this. Give me money. I want to be rich.” (Unless, of course, that person were a rapper.) They have to have something to say.

It’s unfortunate that people have to choose between love or money.

They should be able to do what they love and get paid for it.

If people did what they loved, they would be much happier, and I’m pretty sure Americans could use some cheering up.

If they were happier, maybe they could stimulate this wretched economy.

Here’s a proposal for President-elect Barack Obama: Pay people for doing what they love.

This plan is genius.

Obama should probably appoint me to his cabinet.

I have yet to see Hillary Rodham Clinton come up with such a good plan.

In a perfect world, this plan could solve a lot of problems.

But, sadly, this world is not perfect, and my plan isn’t feasible.

It’s nice to dream about, though.

It’s sad that it can’t ever work out.

I know a man who loves to write and wants to write novels for a living, but he’s studying petroleum engineering so he doesn’t end up under a bridge some day.

I love writing poetry, but I know it will never pay my bills.

My poetry is just going to wilt away in my diary until my funeral, when somebody will find it and read it aloud. I’ll probably be blushing in my grave.

I wish I loved to do something that could make me money.

How lucky are those doctors who truly love helping people? You can definitely tell the difference between them and the ones who are just in it for the money.

My advice is to pursue what you love, regardless of what it pays.

Even if you can’t get paid enough money for doing it, someday your passion will pay off.

The best artists in the world wouldn’t have contributed so much to our culture if they had given up and chosen money.

Leonardo Da Vinci could have been a doctor, but where would that have left Mona Lisa?