I'm not sure what guidance counselors would say otherwise: "Do something you hate, so that you can be unmotivated to go to work, have potentially more chance to lose your job, and chances are a bad economy can ruin you just as easily as if you were doing something you loved"?
I mean, really, it's a no-brainer: THeir job is to encourage you to do something you enjoy, you're temperamentally suited for, and that you'll be willing to pursue through hardship.
I think that's the big thing there. Doing something you love means even when money sucks, at least you might have other compensation for your efforts and be good at the job.
I actually make really decent money now, after working upwards for my entire career, yet I'm just not really happy and wish I had been willing to pursue something I liked better early on because in the end all I've got to show for this is a career I don't much care about, and 8 hours a day for decades doing something (or not doing it, more likely than not, it's hard to stay on task) that won't leave me feeling good when I finally look back. Yet once you get a family to care for, and the economy sours, your financial obligations kind of locks you in; it's better to find something more enjoyable up front, if you can.
My father told me that "music won't pay the bills." I do think he was right, but he instilled in me an actual fear/shunning of risk, and unfortunately to purse something you love will demand taking risks sometimes, if you're to get anywhere with it. You'll have to fight at times to get the opportunities you want. I was passive, floated along, now I've floated high on the chain, but just feel like my entire career has meant nothing to me. Don't do that.