My philosophy to understanding physics is to ask "Why?"

The second big "Why?" question is "Why does Nature work the way it does?" and we do physics because we want to know why.

So why do I do physics? Because it teaches me skills which can be used outside of physics.

So why do I do physics? Because it might be a part of my calling.

So why do I do physics? Because the amazement and awe I get from understanding complicated topics is fantastic.

So why do we do physics? Because sometimes we want to overcome the friction (difficulty of the project).

So why do we do physics? Because sometimes we allow inertia to drive our actions.

So why do we do physics? Because sometimes we are tricked into doing certain stuff, almost like an object getting stuck in a potential well.