My belief is that if you go for quality of life first then standard of living will follow - it doesn't work the other way round.
Having done the airline pilot job in a number of differing roles I can say that I am glad I have done it but there are some things I do not miss about the job such as irregular working hours, long duty periods and incompetent management. I do, however, miss the money!
However there is one thing worse than a bad job and that it no job at all - count your blessings!