Do you like it?

This is one of the questions I’m asked most often (and the most vague/hardest to answer).  My cookie cutter response is usually “Yes, but it’s what you make of it”.  Examples:

Instead of complaining about how boring and repetitive it is to every day eat red beans and white rice and practically zero fruits, meats and vegetables, I think to myself “Yay, I’m eating locally grown and organic!”

Instead of whining about being forbidden to drive vehicles and having to stand in the aisles on chicken buses and then walking to work, I tell myself “Good work Pete; you’re reducing your carbon footprint and getting exercise!”

In short, the bad days are awful.  I’ve had carefully planned projects fail and I’ve had sicknesses with parasites, amoebas and bacterial infections.  But when a student approaches me after graduating and tells me that she wants to be a teacher, I can honestly say I have the best job in the world.