How did I manage to strike such a balance?

My job gives me the flexibility to shape the code according to my ocd tendencies. It’s neat. Simple. Abstract. Beautiful. It’s so good that anything that blemishes is will make me feel like I’m about to explode. My job pays me money to fulfill my anal retentive needs.

My previous job paid me more money. And the code was a mess. And I couldnt do anything about it. And every day I’d get this feeling in my neck, in my shoulders. That it was so terrible, and it shouldn’t be, that all these projects people were working on shouldn’t exist because if the code was good it would just work. I felt like I was going to explode. I imploded.

My current job pays me less money. But it pays me money nonetheless. And somehow I get to make it the way I want. How did I strike such a balance?