Why did I choose this particular journey through life? Dunno, really! I come from an RAF family, my dad was a pilot and his dad was WW2 aircrew. When the prospect of self-financing life became unavoidable at about 21, it was the obvious thing to do. I wore glasses (still do), so I never really considered pilot. But someone persuaded me that I should put 'pilot' and 'navigator' down as second and third choices after 'engineer' on my application. For reasons purely of vanity, I cheated in the eye test and passed the medical as fit for aircrew. On being informed that I could be assessed for entry as pilot, which paid more than engineer, I naturally said, 'OK, let's do it'. The RAF offered me the job a few days later.
Of course, they found out their medical error a few months later (I couldn't find my aircraft on the line!), but after paying for some extremely stylish (not) glasses for me, they let me continue. 22 years and 8000 hours later, I had to consider the prospects of retirement from the RAF at 55, or a switch to civilian life and the chance to continue to 65. As my kids will be 15 and 14 when I'm 55, it was a no-brainer. Next stop a Virgin 747 rhs. Now I'm on the A340.
Fact is, I love my job - but my expectations weren't unrealistic. How could they be after all those, occasionally very exciting, years in the military? Now my priorities include things I'd never considered before, like the chance of retiring alive rather than being buried while my kids were still young! Routine and boredom was the price I paid for security (relatively) and survival. I'm OK with the idea of reading all the newspapers every working day. I now drink decaf, and I exercise a lot to try and keep the overfed waistline under control. I get to socialise with some interesting people in some nice hotels. I see my kids about once a week.
However, I can now reasonably expect to be still around in 18 years time when I finally give up flying for good. I shall miss it hugely but, thanks to modern automation and routine, probably not as much as I now miss the real flying I used to do!