Yes I can very much relate. Ever since I took my first flight at age 4, I became engulfed in all things aviation. I've had plenty of "office jobs" and never felt like any were my calling, so to speak. I'm old enough to know that flying professionally won't be all roses. Like most things, I'm sure it will mostly be a grind, as many of you have acknowledged. I just think I prefer a grind in the sky vs. one in a cubicle. But let's be real...many of those cube jobs pay well, and you're home every night by 6. And when you have a wife and kid(s), that makes putting up with the (boring) cube job almost worth it. And there in lies my dilemma. I imagine this dilemma plagues many of you all as well. Don't mean to go all Freud on this, but the issue probably is much deeper than simply "flying vs. desk job." I think many of us (pilots) are just not wired for desk jobs. Flying is one way out of that mundane lifestyle--what we consider mundane anyway. Many people aren't wired for office jobs...so they become cops, firefighters, bartenders, hair stylists, waiters (servers), and of course pilots!