I was a Carrot Juice Technician.

Before I get to that story, a few questions and some related thoughts for you to consider (and perhaps by the end of this piece you’ll also be motivated to share your comments and answers to these questions; everyone’s got insights worth sharing on this one!)

What is the oddest job you ever held? The most difficult? The one you learned the most from? The most rewarding?

What we do and have done to make a buck or a billion is not who we are, of course, but from our earliest jobs forward they do significantly contribute to who we are. We spend extensive time, energy and focus on shaping our work and so inevitably we are shaped extensively right back.

Which is why one of the most common work-related refrains out there is to “Do what you love.” Since you’ll be pouring so much of you into work, the thinking goes, the work might as well be something you love – something related to your personal passions or hobbies, perhaps. You’ll be happier, you’ll glow, people will in turn adore you, etc.

And indeed it is an alluring concept. Who doesn’t want to get paid adequately or over-adequately for doing something they love?

However, the refrain is also both unrealistic and partially untrue.

First of all, when the statement “Do what you love” in relation to your career is made, some mean it as good advice for any and all. But if everyone did somehow follow that advice, our sewers would clog and the tables in restaurants would never get cleared.

What I mean is, while a few wonderful souls out there may be working in sewers or bussing tables because they have always loved that, if everyone followed the advice to make their living at something they’re passionate about, most jobs perceived as menial – which may be most jobs in this world – would go undone. Meanwhile, half of the U.S. – maybe ¾ of those under 25 -- would be the next American Idol. Everyone “doing what they love” is impossible.

Others may make the general-sounding statement but more specifically mean, “Select people do what they love for a living, and you should try to be one of them.” That statement is more realistic, with its inherent acknowledgement that -- in a world where low-paying service, factory and agricultural jobs are by far the rule -- most won’t “do what they love” for a living. But that statement is still partially untrue because it also inherently implies that somehow “doing what you love” is the prescription to ensure happiness.

In reality, I have known many people who achieved their dream jobs but are miserable. One convinced himself he was doggedly pursuing “what he loves to do” -- and still believes it – while everyone around him knows he has instead been doggedly running from a highly dysfunctional childhood that he has not yet been able to confront. He has achieved great financial success at “what he loves to do” but still has no one he truly trusts or that trusts him (among other serious issues) because he still hasn’t faced that past. Hope and prayers are there for him.

Many sacrifice delving deep into other key areas of life –  love, having children, friendships, solitude, hobbies, fun – in pursuit of “doing what they love,” only to find that it’s not the panacea they thought it would be. Matters are usually worse, because they have given up or ignored so much of the rest of life– some of which biology and other factors will never allow them to get back – and it all hits them suddenly when they hit that mirage of a pinnacle.

Meanwhile, some of the happiest people I know are not “doing what they love” in their work and career. Some assemble the same widget over and over, some push papers, some say “Welcome to Wal-Mart” all day, some clear restaurant tables, and none would tell you they always dreamed of doing any of these things.

But because they revel in family and love, making and keeping friends, togetherness and solitude, exploring the new and revisiting the old, and because they may indulge in hobbies, entertainment, art, nature, God and spirituality, these things are all there with them in their work as well. Indeed, this indulgence in the stuff of life is what enables them to discover relationships, growth, purpose and sometimes even pleasure in the work they do, mundane as that work may be. These people seem to love what they do, or at least like it, no matter what the “it” is.  Yes, the Michael Jordans and Katie Courics of the world can be inspiring, but these rare birds who exude joy while wiping down tables or digging ditches are even more so.

And so this is not a call to abandon any wish you have of making a living at doing what you love. Instead it is a caution to be careful what you wish for. And it is an observation whose advice is inherent: it seems far more rewarding to spend your energy on learning to love what you do, no matter what it is. When you can do that, you’ll be far more prepared to get what you wish for, including making a living doing what you love.

Which brings me back to odd jobs, tough jobs, and my job as a Carrot Juice Technician...