When Life Gets in the Way

Life. It seems that to many of us, life gets in the way of living. We don't live in pursuit of of the things we love, we live in the pursuit of the things we think we need.
Don't get me wrong, I am not going all Thoreau on you. I need my house and food and the occasional night out. I therefore need my paycheck. Which necessitates a job.
And that's where it all goes wrong.
When in school did any teacher ever tell you, "Study hard Johnny or Suzy, because someday, you will be trapped by the very thing you need the most, which is your job. You will work hard for little return and at the end of the day, you will be so tired and depressed that all the wishes and dreams you have now will melt into an endless stream of reruns and Hagen Daas."
I don't know about you, but my teachers always told me I would be able to parlay my talents into something that was useful for the world and for my psyche.
Are there really only a few of us who get to do what we want to do and it also provides us all we need to live, albeit perhaps simply?
I have 3 cars, a big TV, a gigantic stainless steel barbecue with side burner and rotisserie fit to roast a stuck pig... That's just the stuff I can see from sitting at my dining room table now as I write this missive.
Do I need all of it? Is this success?
In 18 months, Emily's student loan will be paid off, one of the cars paid for and a credit card similarly diminished or dispatched. 18 months and I can start living again. 18 months until... what?
I have allowed life to get in the way of living. I have deferred dreams and put off goals. I have dismissed my deepest inner-most desires as silly fodder fit only for a kid's dreams. I have given short shrift to family, faith and fellowship in the pursuit of happiness only to find that I am on the road heading in the opposite direction. The turnaround is miles up ahead, the detour is hard to navigate and the way not always clear.
Is this why we choose to continue living lives bereft of real fulfillment? Is it because it is easier than the struggle to be happy? Is it better to trade misery for ease... or as Pink Floyd put it "Did you exchange your walk-on part in the war for a lead roll in a cage?"
Going back to Thoreau, I will admit, I am not a fan. I don't think we chuck everything into the can to search for life's singular meaning... if you want to do that, there is a monastery or a convent with your name on it. I think the method of totally sequestering oneself from life in order to free yourself puts you in a different prison.
There are only more questions, not any answers to these thoughts... Talk amongst yourselves. As for me, I have a meeting. It will not make me happy. It will not make me feel good about myself or my life. Nobody else in the meeting will be fulfilled in any way, either. But somehow we all agree, we need to have this meeting... Weird.