that sounds very nice and all, but unless you're independently wealthy or someone else is supporting you, you're making the same trade off as everyone else. You've just opted to take a long slow path vs others that just want to get it over with. Your still going to need some baseline amount of money to survive, whether you make it 'all at once' or slowly over the rest of your life. And as long as you're working, your going to have some percentage of bad days, days you don't want to be there, etc. Its the same formula, only the parameters have changed.

Also, if being miserable at work 'shapes you as a person' or has a substantial impact on your 'self-integrity' it sounds like you're the one defining yourself via work? More outside activities might help? You have to be able to leave work behind at the end of the day...

I grew up in a mill town with a large part of the population hating what they did..but they did it every day for 20 or 30 years to take care of their families. For most, being miserable at work wasn't the defining facet of their lives. They had hobbies, coached little league, and did a million other things. While it was far from perfect, most of the people I knew didn't 'let the job get to them'.

As for the choices you made - good for you :-) Glad you found a set of parameters that works for you! :-D