Is it naive to want my work to have meaning?

You want your work to mean something beyond the paycheck, and part of you wonders if that is childish, if grown-ups are supposed to just take the money and stop asking. Let me be plain: wanting your work to matter is not naive. It is one of the most human things about you. The people who mock that wish have usually just given up on it and would rather not be reminded. That said, meaning does not always look the way we imagine. It is not always a grand mission that changes the world. Often it is smaller and closer, doing a thing well, easing someone's day, providing for people you love, being someone others can rely on. Those are real forms of meaning, not consolation prizes. The paycheck can be the means, and the meaning can live in how and why you earn it. So do not throw away the wish, and do not demand it arrive perfectly. Look for meaning in the size it actually comes in. Ask who your work touches and what you can be proud of in how you do it. Wanting more than money is not a flaw to grow out of. It is a compass. Keep it, and let it point you.