smiling monkey,
Your's was probably one of the more cautiously hopeful message in this thread for a while.
quirke,
Getting yourself exposed early is never a bad thing. PPL might give you a taste of what flying is like; You can then consider whether taking it to the next level, i.e. professionally, is your cup of tea. In the grand scheme of things, if flying is sufficiently important to you, all these are but test of your conviction.
All the best!