While I agree that you need to think deeply before making career choices, I disagree that you're necessarily on the wrong track if you end up in a job that you find boring/meaningless. It's normal for people to discover that all the decent job opportunities open to them have some serious cons (especially in a bad economy with fewer options), and it's often a matter of picking the least of all evils.

In other words, you may dislike your programming job, but you may not necessarily find a career track that'll make you any happier. Best of luck in your search though.