the residency question rears its ugly head

and here we are again - same place i was last year - albeit now an intern rather than a fourth year vet student.

to do a residency or to forego the residency?

there are many, many reasons to do one. there are many, many reasons not to do one.

reasons for:
1) i want to go 110% with my education. i want the extra letters and recognition of specializing.
2) i'm smart enough to do it and do it well (sorry, but it's true).
3) i want to be a specialist.
4) i love academia (sick as that sounds).
5) i'll be in demand (as an emergency specialist (criticalist) or an internal medicine specialist).
6) i want to do it.

reasons against:
1) i'm almost 30. i would like to have children eventually.
2) there is more to life than veterinary medicine (like seeing my siblings and parents and in-laws
occasionally.
3) it's 3 more years of hard, hard work (long days, long nights...)
4) i'm afraid that i'll become consumed by my job and that's never where i saw myself heading.
5) i take everything really hard now...as a specialist - i can only see it getting worse.

any thoughts?