I wonder if you can frame going back to work full-time in a different perspective in your head. You know what the grind is like, but you also know now that there is much more to life. Can you allow work as the necessary evil, but not make that your identity, and focus on the time you spend outside of work, and making the most of that time? Can you take the time to start over in a new field? If you are a writer, have you considered going into copy editing or grant writing or running social media/PR for a company? You may have to start over, but at least you'd be happy.

Can you do freelance work editing people's theses and papers (who are in school)?

Is there something you are passionate about that you can turn into your job or a business? For example, all of my schooling is in the fine arts. I was an artist and a dancer. Still am. But I couldn't pay the bills that way. Well, I was also an excellent writer. So I became employed full-time as a grant writer for a large museum and got benefits, a good salary, and made lots of connections in the art world as well. And I still got to dance, albeit scheduled around my work schedule) and create art. Now I actually do more work as an arts administrator than as an artist, but I love my work, even though sometimes it's really work.

There are definitely ways to turn your "work" into something that you can at least tolerate. You have to find something that you find in some way fulfilling. You don't have to be changing the world...but for example, if you worked in retail, it could be that you love working with fashion and helping people find a great outfit that makes them feel confident. If you are in accounting, maybe it's that you enjoy helping your company stay in the black and be fiscally responsible. If you're in banking, maybe you enjoy and feel fulfilled by the community grants that your bank gives to local nonprofits? My dad works for Lockheed Martin. He wanted to be a pilot, even got his pilot's license. He had previously been a flight engineer for a major airline, and he was in the Air Force. Lockheed wasn't his dream job, but now he manufactures the airplanes that the Air Force and major airlines use and he feels very fulfilled by being a part of the air transportation industry. He loves his work and that he's good at it and regarded very highly as a trainer and manager. It's not what he originally intended for himself, but he has been able to frame it in a positive, fulfilling light.

How can you do that for yourself? Otherwise, all work is drudgery. It's often about our own attitude towards the work. (Often, not always. There are always toxic work environments, politics, and drama that can make a work place unbearable.)

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