Once a philosopher said, “Happiness is a state of mind”, so it totally depends on you, but here is my take at it:
I enjoy the freedom of research that a faculty job brings. If I decide to start a research direction on topic X, I can immediately hire some students to work on the topic and start publishing and writing proposals without coordinating with the department chair or anyone else.
I enjoy the flexible hours, I do not like 8 am to 5pm jobs. If I am busy I stay after 5 pm and work on weekends but if I am done early I will leave at 10:00 am (you will be quite busy the first few years)
I get 4 months in summer to myself without any classes. While as a tenure track faculty you are expected to do research, you are not obliged to be on campus. You can take a month off without coordinating with anyone
