This horse has been beaten by innumerable people much better than I (the people and the beating), but there is something unifying about our common obligations that provides a perennial opportunity for 'me, too' consolation.
Most of us have had childhoods defined more-or-less by whim, with the occasional reign-tug by a parent. A lucky few have experienced that independence well into their adult lives by luck, birthright or sheer force of will. The rest...
The rest of us work each day at a job in which we hopefully find some measure of entertainment - eight hours can seem a long time - out of necessity. I know very few who would continue their lives as they are, had they come across the means to make that decision. Those that would have already found their fortune, I think.
I keep a glamorous notion of my "life's work" floating in the back of my mind. It is an idealistic light switch that, should I find the force or knowledge to flip it, will change my life in an instant. I doubt any of my personal heroes went through such an instantaneous transformation... perhaps no one has.
Another day at the salt mine.