My experience is:
I failed to enter military aviation 25 years ago, so I took other paths. Being fed up of everything else I now decided to go back to aviation and get a job in it. Aged 43, I'm obviously not looking to airliners but anything that keeps me near airplanes and flying and I really don't care of how much money I might earn.
My view is:
There isn't a single pilot on earth who does it for the money. I think that if one looks at the lucrative side of it he will always be unsatisfied with the job (if he gets one) but if one loves flying and airplanes he will likely get a job in the industry and always be glad of what he does.
Expectations don't pay off... objectives do.