Hated mine, excelled at it and retired early.

You can't always get what you want. You can't always have what you want. My coping mechanism was always attached to "you have to make a living." If no one else is helping to support you, this reality sinks in pretty fast.

I quit and find a new job! I have only ever had 3 jobs that I loved in my 57 years. One was out of school and I learned to paint signs. But also learned carpentry, electronics, welding, etc. It was fun but didn't pay well.

I had a friend that was younger than I was by a few years. He seemingly had it all. He told me I should get into sales... So I did. I learned a lot and went far. In the 90's I worked sales for a lender and fell in love with my job. They were bought out and I took a lucrative severance package instead of staying. I ran my own business for a while. (Too many headaches for me.) Worked a few jobs I hated then back to another lender in sales where I work now and I LOVE my job. I work from home, set my own hours, great pay and awesome benefits... It's like a working vacation for me now.

I am a firm believer that if you love what you do... Not only will you never work a day in your life... You usually also excel at what you do. My potential is unlimited... Or I should say... It is only limited to my willingness to work and my imagination.

There are only three categories.... Sales, Service or Talent... Pick one you like!

Simple . . . work hard to get one that is better. I was doing customer service at an insurance company . . . . . saved up as much as I could, took some time off and got Network+, A+, Security+ CompTia certifications, started looking for computer-related jobs, started out doing cabling which does not pay very well, kept up pushing the envelope, got first part of the CCNA certification, worked in a clean room for some time, that did not pay to well either, believe it or not, after about nine months of jumping around from computer job to computer job, got started as a network engineer, still working on getting the full CCNA, which is not far off . . . . . it was not easy at all to say the least . . . . you have to set a goal and just pound away at it until you get results. Being older should not ever stop you from learning new things.
Coping . . . that is just seeing it as a challenge to do better . . . . for me it was a very rocky road, with a lot of bumps, bull shit, fucked up jobs. But you can either look at it with defeat in your eyes or see it as a challenge to defy it all and move beyond it.

Where on your journey do you find yourself. There are many ways to challenge yourself in the most mundane tasks.practice Mindfulness being one.

I work in a job that is really way above my potential.

Some people think that they are too good for this or that and don’t they ever get a surprise when the boss calls them into the office to say goodbye

Find new, more appropriate work better suited to my desires and skills.