I keep hearing that because... it seems... the only thing we measure the sum of our lives in is money.
What about measuring out lives in, as Jonathan Larson suggested, "Love" or better yet, Soul?
If a Soul feels stagnant, misused, unappreciated, drained of life, like nothing more than a cog in a machine, that is, itself, ultimately broken and dying... that Soul can't afford to stay in that place. Maybe to leave that place is financially risky. If the only thing we measure our lives in is money, Soul doesn't matter. But if we measure our lives in Love, if we measure our lives in Soul... we can't afford NOT to take the occasional financial risk.
Of course, we all want the sweet spot where both Soul and Bank Account are equally full. And... one man's soul-sucking job is another man's passion-fueled career. But the hard fact is no one does a soul-sucking job well. The hard fact is that when our once passion-fueled career becomes a soul-sucking job it is highly probable we have become incompetent in that position. If we have ANY love left for the people that job is supposed to serve or for our colleagues who are still fueled by passion to do the good work, we cannot afford to stay. To stay would be sacrificing Love and Soul for Money.
I can't afford to do THAT.