I've found that living through my job was never going to be ultimately satisfying. I enjoy my job well enough, and I've been at the same one now for 28 years, but it's not where I look for fulfillment. Instead I focus my needs for exploration, meaning, social connection, and creative energy into hobbies. A hobby is much easier to change or entirely dump without much consequence when it is no longer satisfying. I've played around with and very much enjoyed classic cars, watch repair, old clocks, beer brewing, fishing, firearms, archery, hunting, cooking, volunteering at a hospital, volunteering at a museum, and plenty more. All of them allowed me to learn something new, meet new people, and just overall enjoy a new journey. And when my interest waned (and it did naturally on all of it) I just happily closed the book and moved on, sometimes coming back to something, sometimes not. And as a bonus, the friendships I made each time still continue on.
