Is a 'dream job' really possible?

Most jobs are what you make of them. I've worked in the military, private, and public sectors. The jobs I liked best were the ones that engaged my knowledge, skills, and abilities the most. I had great jobs with good-to-poor bosses; and poor jobs with great bosses. The jobs that were the easiest to leave were those where management made it clear I wasn't of value to them.

I'm not sure I ever had a dream job beyond being a pilot. I did work at what the author calls "McJobs" throughout high school and college. Those jobs taught me the value of honest work, being on time, and trying each day to be better. I also had the opportunity to work for my first asshole boss. I left that job after 6 months and took a pay cut to go back to work I was good at. The backdrop behind the McJobs was my quest to be an Air Force pilot. I achieved that goal and truly enjoyed the flying part of the job. I also found I was a good administrator or functionary. I was happy with jobs most pilots tried to stay away from, such as higher headquarters staff jobs. But pushing paper and doing PowerPoint briefings will only get you so far. In my case it was Lt Col.

My work as a contractor and Army Civilian was sort of a McJob thing. I needed to pay bills, finish raising kids, and plan for retirement. Those jobs allowed all that. The jobs I worked in the private and public sectors played to my "staff officer" skills. I was reasonably happy with those jobs and my bosses were mostly good people to work for. None of them inspired me nor would I call them dream jobs. I made a good living and I'm thankful for it.

Looking back now from retirement, I would say my dream job was being a major in a flying squadron in Alaska. As a major I was shielded from some of the shit jobs allocated to LTs and Capts. As an instructor pilot, I received a modicum of respect from the aircrews. I was comfortable enough with my knowledge, skills, and abilities to fly the C-130 to actually enjoy executing challenging missions. Finally, the mission was more than training with real deliveries of food, people, and critical classified materiel to remote radar sites. Then I "screwed up" and got promoted . . .

Dream job is possible if you have the capability of doing the job. I have a dream job but can't achieve it because of medical issues.

No. That said... there are jobs you can be glad to go to in the morning. But there is always some aspect of the job that is not fun. I love dairy farming, but I hate trimming goat hooves, removing waste hay, disbudding (cauterizing horns before they can grow), and doing anything outside when the wind chill is in the negative numbers.