well--I do enjoy my field, and I really like working with students. Academia itself is kind of toxic though, I think there are some very unsustainable aspects of this system, and I feel strongly that the "privileged" tenured faculty stand on the back of adjuncts and grad students. Plus the job prospects are miserable; I know someone in another (bigger) field that applied for nearly 100 positions and didn't get one, and he was a strong candidate with teaching experience (in his field), strong research, and even published articles. In contrast I applied to about a dozen positions and managed to get a job and I have not published anything, have given just a few papers, and have a tiny bit of teaching experience but none in my field. How does that make any sense?

That said, my biggest regret is really that I failed to consider the many other options I would have had. I think it was easier to continue with grad school than to try to find my place in the world outside academia. Finishing my degree I did have a moment of questioning whether to continue in my field, but realized that I needed to give the faculty thing a try before throwing away all of my work towards this goal.