Thinking about the compromise

If you sell crack to kindergarten students, no need to read this.

Same thing if you donate all your belongings and income to the poorest and sickest in the slums and ghettos.

The rest of us have compromised. We're not profit-maximizing sociopaths, nor are we saints. We're somewhere in between.

It's interesting to consider where we choose to compromise. I know people with $50,000,000 in the bank who still don't believe that they have enough, who still grind away at a job they don't like trying to earn another penny. I also know fundraisers for non-profits (ones that they believe in) who aren't willing to swallow hard and make a difficult fundraising pitch or promote a new approach to raising money that might feel risky.

Would you take a 10% pay cut to market a product you truly love and believe in? Would you pass up a 15% raise to market something like Twinkies?

Everyone is at their own level, but my impression is that most people sort of randomly end up somewhere on the greed/joy/work/good spectrum without really considering moving one way or the other.

If you've built your life around service to others, how much more could you accomplish if you were a little greedier? If you've built an expensive lifestyle around a well-paying job, what would happen to your life if you downsized and sought out more joy or generosity?

No right answers, but some good questions.