What I don't like about the discourse on the "rat race" online is that people only discuss two extremes: either you work a high paid, highly stressing job that

What I don't like about the discourse on the "rat race" online is that people only discuss two extremes: either you work a high paid, highly stressing job that you hate, or you retire. I feel dumb saying this, but there are many combinations of salary, stress and meaning (to choose three axis) as companies out there. If instead of "rat race vs not" we frame it as a tradeoff between possibly conflicting attributes, which may vary person to person and at different points in life, I think we'd have a more fruitful conversation.