Is the pursuit of happiness a thing of the past?

I have gone back to pursue my dream career, the type of work where you don't call it your job because it actually means something more than a paycheque every couple of weeks.

I may be in the minority - and I may be doing it at the wrong time.

The Globe & Mail ran a poll on its website asking whether people would quit their job to pursue their dream career and beyond the 23 per cent of respondents who said they were already working their dream job, only 18 per cent of people said yes, they would do it. I am doing it so I am definitely a part of that small percentile.

And I do so even in the face of mounting odds stacked against people like myself succeeding, because I truly believe this is what I want to do, and this is what will make me happy.

But those factors are hard to deny. The world is still in quite the financial mess, even if Canada is doing alright. The cold, stark predictions of The Drummond Report may suggest there are more reasons to worry in Ontario at least, but compared to the US, and many parts of Europe - Greece especially - we are rather comfortable.

What will not help this financial slump (if you want to call it that) is a younger generation that is not much smaller than our own, however is far more educated having paid heed to the warnings of their parents.

Last year in Ontario university enrollments surpassed that of 2003, which is the year when the double cohort emerged. That was the final year of OAC (grade 13), which meant province-wide two graduating classes came out together. There were no changes of any sort this past year, people just view postsecondary education as the bare minimum now to gain successful employment.

Schools built up residences to prepare for the double cohort and even then were unable to cope with its sheer magnitude, so they built more after to ensure that sort of thing wouldn't happen again. This year however Brock University put some of its students up in hotels, and McMaster University actually offered students $1000 and a guaranteed spot in residence the next year if they opted out and lived at home instead.

This year the applications already received just from secondary school students has already surpassed last year. A BA today would appear to be the equivalent of a high school diploma back in the 1970s, which of course means to really advance postgraduate work is necessary to help students stand apart.

It would be all well and good if this was happening in 10-15 years time, as the baby boom and echo boom generations finally pack in it - even given the extra couple of years added to the age in which people receive old age security in Canada last week, meaning some will try and work longer.

Early Gen Xers would also be calling it a day and heading for retirement, maybe more than a couple if the recent trend of early voluntary retirement packages being handed out recently continues.

But that is not the case right now, we are far from the time when our Canada's population growth will reach zero - which will be the early 2030's. We are at a time where people are working longer, more educated students are graduating, and the economy is struggling.

If trends continue this way, there are going to be some very overeducated, undervalued workers - yes, even more than there already are today.

So at what point do people tell their kids when growing up that a job is good enough, when you should just make sure that you get a paycheque to keep you happy and forget aboutany self actualization? That work is called work for a reason, not fun?

In my opinion that talk had to have happened in the mid-90's based on all the stats in front of us now, so it's kind of too late. The generation coming forward will be emerging at a time where jobs may become rather plentiful (as long as the economy straightens itself out anyways).

But even if this weren't the case, I would never suggest that talk happen ever. No dream should ever be squashed or dismissed, it's the dreamers that make a difference in the world and change things up. We need those people. And the more passionate someone is at their work, the better a place this world turns out.

Yes, many people will get stuck in jobs they hate, or cannot move out from, but that should never change the message. Make your occupation your career and not a punch in, punch out misery day by day. Don't give up. Too many people do, and that's the main reason they don't like what they do.

I'm not surprised, but still a little disappointed, that only 18 per cent of people said they would pursue their dreams in that poll.  The odds suggest that once you get a job you really should hold on for dear life because if anything happens, the conditions are crazy out there right now.

But standing put and refusing to try is as stagnant as it is dangerous. The world needs to be pushed, from time to time, by people who dream up new ways to keep track of data, or communicate with one another, or challenging outdated cultural norms our society may hold dear.

I side with the dreamers, and maybe that's because I'm banking on what they believe, that a newly trained 30-year-old journalist can beat out promising young up-and-comers and make a path for himself in a deteriorating industry.

I am in the minority, and I am doing it at the wrong time - but it's being done for all the right reasons. The pursuit of happiness is not dead, it's there right now if you really look for it.