你会辞掉高薪工作去追求理想吗

“He says it’s his heart and he can’t move. I’ll call you later.”
“他说心脏不舒服，他动不了了。我等会再打给你。”

I could feel the silence in the room, as if the walls were coated in it. Surrounding and canceling, any-and-all audio that might have made me feel the reality of the world never reached my ears. Madness took me over. I attempted to walk and pace to clear my head but my knees met with the coffee table, the chair, and a few other things I can’t even recall. Of all the money and all the success I could obtain, none of it could help me. My ailing father was thousands of miles away. What I truly had was nothing. Did he arrive? Was he seen by a doctor? What is the problem? Can it be fixed? What if he didn’t make it?
我能感觉到房间陷入一片死寂，这种感觉似乎布满了四周的墙壁。环绕在我耳边的声音若隐若现，我恍恍惚惚如坠梦魇。我陷入疯狂。我想四处走动，试图让大脑变得清醒，结果膝盖撞上了咖啡桌、椅子和其他东西，我已经回想不起当时的情形。虽然我获得了巨额财富和令人炫目的成功，但这些东西都无法帮助我。我患病的父亲远在千里之外。我所拥有的一切没有任何意义。他到医院了吗？他看过医生了吗？他出了什么问题？他能够痊愈吗？如果他无法度过难关，我该怎么办？

I was updated five or six hours later. Dad’s fine. He’s home resting already. Doctor gave medication and instructions if there’s another heart attack.
五六个小时后，我得到了最新消息。父亲很好。他已经回家休息了。医生开了药，并嘱咐了注意事项，以防心脏病再次发作。

I gave up my position, went back to work closer to home. The company still attempted to send me out to various international places. I would go on some of them, but I didn’t enjoy my work anymore. My work kept me away from what was truly important in my life. Family.
我放弃了当时的职位，回到离家近的地方工作。公司仍会派我到世界各地。我会接受某些任务，但我不再享受工作。我的工作让我远离了生活中真正重要的东西——家庭。

I eventually gave up my job and started a different career. One that would allow me to see my family at minimum, once a week.
我最终辞去了那份工作，开始了一份不同的职业。这份工作让我可以每周至少见一次家人。

Now, every Saturday, I hug my father, hug my mother, hug my brother, and pet our dog.
现在，每到周六，我都会拥抱我的父亲，拥抱我的母亲，拥抱我的弟弟，陪着我们的宠物狗玩耍。

Answer by Margaret Weiss, financier in training
玛格丽特•韦斯的回答，正在培训中的金融业者

The answer would be yes if the current job is slowly crushing your soul. So between being tormented each and every day and a chance of survival, I would choose life.
如果目前的工作正在慢慢粉碎你的灵魂，那么答案是肯定的。在每天饱受折磨和生存的机会之间，我选择生活。

The answer would be no if the current job is tolerable; the new position has no guarantees of being any different, and I have obligations toward my dependents/my family. So between a chance of professional happiness and my responsibility, I choose being responsible.
如果当前的工作是可以忍受的，那么答案是否定的；新职位并不能保证一定有所不同，而且对于我的家眷和家人，我有义不容辞的责任。所以，在职业幸福感和责任之间，我选择责任。

I think there are many jobs that can be taken at a pay cut, so continue searching – this is certainly not the last job available in your location.
我认为只要降低工资要求，会有许多适合的工作，所以继续寻找吧——这肯定不是你能找到的最后一份工作。

Answer by KP Wee, writer
KP•魏的回答，作家

I had a similar experience several years back, although the salary figures involved weren’t as high as the ones posted in the question.
几年前，我也有过类似的经历，虽然当时我的工资没有回答这个问题的其他人那么高。

I left a stable position, which I started to lose interest in gradually to pursue a job that I thought was perfect for me, even though it paid much less. I figured it was a good opportunity to get into that growing industry, though there were no guarantees.
我辞去了一份稳定的工作，因为我开始慢慢对它失去了兴趣，我想找一份我认为最适合自己的工作，即便这份工作的薪酬更低。我发现这是进入那个快速成长的行业的一次好机会，尽管不能确保成功。

Alas, two years later, I found that the opportunities weren’t there. I had fun, and I enjoyed doing something completely different. However, the difference in salaries was huge, and the opportunities that I gambled on didn’t truly pan out.
可惜的是，两年后，我发现所谓的机会其实并不存在。我过得很开心，也很喜欢做一些完全不同的事情。然而，工资的差距太过巨大，而且我抓住的所谓机会并未带来成功。

If you are a person who has lots of financial obligations (ie. mortgage, kids’ education, etc.), then it makes more sense to stick with the higher-paying job. It depends on what you value more, and whether or not you are tied down to anything, such as family and debts, etc. Going from $120,000 a year down to $50,000 a year is a big difference.
如果你有许多债务（如住房贷款、孩子教育等），那么坚持薪酬更高的工作，就更有意义。这取决于你更重视什么，以及是否有哪些事情制约着你，例如家庭和债务等。从年薪120,000美元降到50,000美元，还是有天壤之别的。