I think about other ways to fly all the time. Reality is none of them pay a decent wage. So we all stay in the airline.
Many of my friends have recently taken Bizjet jobs over airline jobs - they enjoy the flying more - but have lifestyle issues - you can't win!
I am negative about the future of the career. Unfortunately I don't think it will get better. Cadet programs and the new training schemes that put guys in airline jets with 50 hours in a plane and the rest in a sim just serve to cheapen the profession by essentially de-valuing experience and background.
Pilots will more and more become enslaved to big airlines through bonds and long training contracts.
The glorified busdriver thing was always only a joke - well not any more. It has become a reality. These days when you joke about how easy it is to fly a plane - cause the autopilot does it all - people actually believe you!!
The reality of course is that it is not any easier - we just became better at it than in the past - therefore we screw up and crash less and people perceive that as the job being simpler and you being less valuable as a result.