Sassy,
Let's not get ahead of yourself.
Most commercial Pilots I know are very capable individuals. There are many different reasons why they choose the career, but ultimately the stayers are the ones with the grit and intelligance to stick it out.
These same folk could choose just about any career they set their minds too. Many had the academic results for entry into just about any university program they saw fit.
However most of us fell in love with aviation. We fell in love through a flight deck visit as a kid, or a family member that was/is a Pilot. Some fell in love watching them go overhead, maybe even on that first holiday with the family. We all fell in love with it hard.
So far to chase my dream it's been financial suicide. I spent everything I had on the dream. It's cost me a marriage, a domestic partner, my sanity
and the privlidge of being near my family. I've moved 9 houses in 5 years all rented. I don't think I'll ever be able to go home. Hell, it's a big world out there, I don't even think I really want to.
I didn't get to spend money on cars, houses, backyards and shares like my friends did. I go to their houses now, they have kids, outdoor kitchens with pizza ovens and granite bench tops. They are building ponds, installing pools and spas, home theatres, all sorts of things. They do up old cars, buy boats and jet skis, plus numerous other recreational toys. They talk about taking kids to child care, the next door neighbor who gives them the whoops, the family holiday to Bali or the inlaws and the old school days. It's all pretty laborious to me.
I own nothing except a ten year old car and some dodgy furniture. The bank balance is only just starting to recover after the last decade in the financial wilderness, but let me tell you this. The people I have met, the things I have seen, the places I have been and the aeroplanes I have flown have been amazing. I am rich with experience, rich with memories and my non aviation friends are fascinated when I speak about it. It's certainly more interesting than the shopping trip to kuta!
While I have some regrets about some of the decisions in my personal life, I get to fly an A320! It sure beats working for a living! And you know what? All of my friends call me the lucky one! I think I am too.
Good luck with it all folks. The stayers always get there. This struggler certainly did!