"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life" - Confucius.

To me this phrase was taunting...

I regularly saw this phrase proven to be true for other people, and it became a background goal for me (which is a convenient term I've coined meaning a goal which you think about seldom and do nothing to achieve, eg climb Mt Everest).

I've always enjoyed doing things which I'm good at. Over the years I was successfully advancing my testing career, but all the while I was attempting to figure out what I really wanted to do in life. What do I love to do that I can actually get paid for?

With the help of the online software testing community I have recently discovered that testing can be more creative, engaging and effective than I had thought possible. In the past I enjoyed testing mainly because I was a good tester. Now I look forward to being a great tester because I enjoy what I do.

So the answer to my problem was simpler than I imagined, and it's along the lines of "Love the one you're with".