At the risk of repeating myself, I have met guys in training who were in it for the ray bans and the chance to impress girlies. I'd be amazed if some of them even made it to an airline, let alone managed a career out of it. I have also met professional pilots who have done nothing else in their lives and would frankly benefit from a spell in the real world. They are a small minority, however. The vast majority of pilots I've met - from students to 30 year captains - are as passionate about flying as I am. Hell, I fly with one chap who has 23,000hrs and started flying before I was born - and who goes home to fly an Extra 300 at the weekends.
And that's my point - you need that passion. It's what keeps you motivated, whether you're a teenager doing GCSEs and dreaming of a far-off career, a student studying mind-numbing ATPL subjects, or a 200hr CPL holder wondering how the hell you'll ever get a job. And you'll certainly need it once you do find work - trust me, there are more downsides to commercial flying than I'd ever imagined, and I thought I'd done my homework. And before we get into a 'my job's worse than yours' contest, I know how lucky I am, but I can't think of many other careers where your competence is tested every six months and failure can mean suspension or dismissal.
I respect people who decide this game isn't for them, because I've been there and nearly made that decision myself - the pros and cons were always very finely balanced. In the end though, it was a love of flying that got me here, and is what keeps me motivated now. I had a horrible journey to work yesterday; nearly two hours to do 50 miles, followed by a mad dash to the crew room to print off the paperwork, then join a long queue to get felt up by 'security'. And then it all changed. Someone gave me the controls of a £20 million bus, we sat at the holding point for nearly half an hour, and I got to plane-spot and build hours and get paid for it. Then we went flying, and I managed a decent approach and landing onto a short, wet runway, in a gusting crosswind that a few months ago would have seen me handing control to the other bloke. And I was as happy as a pig in you-know-what.
For me it boils down to a very simple question - how much do you love flying?