Dream Job

Is there such a thing? I have always told myself that I would never settle for anything; that if I wasn't happy, then I would find what it is that happens to be missing from my life. It seems like this works so well with everything but my job.
Don't get me wrong, for the most part, I love what I do. But there are days (many lately) that I often find myself wishing that I could be doing something else for a career. I love being part of a "master plan" in helping and doing all I can for our little, furry creatures, but it can be so trying. Sometimes, I'm not sure I have it in me anymore to remain strong on those days that are so sad; when an owner loses his pet, his friend, his companion after a 19 year relationship....it's hard to cope. Or when you hold a dying puppy, no bigger than one of my hands, and you feel it take it's last breath....these are things I have a hard time letting go of. I know that death is a fact of life, but being exposed to it so often can be such a hard burden to bare.
Sometimes, I want a job that I can leave at work and not worry about again until the next day I have to go in.
But is there such a thing?
I, unfortunately, don't think there is for me.
I have always been the type of person who becomes too involved and has a hard time accepting when I can't change something for the good. I don't think I've ever had a job where i was able to leave it once I clocked out for the night. Certain people, events, issues, pets or whatever always linger somewhere in the back of my mind and it continues to nag me until I'm sure I'm going crazy.
And it is so crazy. I mean the whole idea of work. I understand it and it's a great concept, but it takes so much out of all of us and our everyday lives. It takes us away from our home lives, our family our pets...the people we love most and work so hard for to take care of.
I see my co-workers more than I do my own family and I hate that. It doesn't seem fair or remotely make any sense. And the fact that I bring my work home with me makes it that much worse.
It's such a very thin line that's so easily crossed. You either "don't care" or let it consume you. I have yet to find that happy medium...and I don't think anyone else could ever convince me that they've found it either.
So where does that leave us?
We live in a world where what we "do" defines us. If you take a chance and step outside that stereotypical box, you are most likely to find yourself to be ridiculed and not taken seriously because it's not the "norm".
But I wonder.
What would happen if more of us took the chances that seem so "crazy" to the outside world? Even if we all failed in accomplishing them? What if more of us followed our dreams and made them a reality instead of just settling? What if we didn't give up?
Could the answers to these questions fill that empty void that so many of us feel?
I guess there is only one way to find out....
I just hope I'm brave enough to do it.