Motivation, or Lack Thereof

I've got my degree and without it, I couldn't have gotten most of the jobs I have had in life. There are times, however, that I seriously wish I never would have gone to college, for then I wouldn't have to look for jobs for which to use my degree. We all know people who don't have college degrees and there seems to be a certain freedom about them--one day, they're a secretary, the next, a waitress. Two years later, they work in a shoe store or maybe at the local grocery store. They aren't lumped into certain categories like those of us with degrees are. Yeah, yeah, yeah people with degrees can get any job they want, blah blah blah, and those with degrees make more money than those without. I won't argue that. However, what happens to those of us that got our college degrees and are unsatisfied with our jobs, or the line of work in general. It's not like you can become, say, a nurse when your degree is in American History, or a teacher when your degree is in accounting. No, we're supposed to have figured out at the ripe old age of 18 (or at least by age 21) what we want to do for the rest of our lives and go on from there. What happens when what you think you want at 18 turns out not to be what you want at 35? Then what? Go back to school? Take an entry-level job outside of your field for half or less of what you were previously making? How does that work? It's not just the money (though that is a big factor). What about your pride, the way others view you? Yeah, we shouldn't let how others think of us change our opinions of ourselves, but what happens when a doctor who was making $100,000+ a year decides she no longer wants to do that and opens up a private daycare instead? Or the lawyer who decides he can't handle the pressure and becomes assistant manager at McDonald's instead? I am neither a doctor nor a lawyer and my defection from my current career wouldn't be nearly so dramatic, but the point is, when is enough enough and where do I go from here? I am not qualified for half the open job positions out there, and I am over qualified for the rest. I am not above taking a job for which I am too qualified, but how badly do I want to make $8.50 an hour? It would be so much easier if my current job either paid really well or really bad, but it's somewhere in the middle. Enough that if I loved my job, it would be more than enough. Do I hate my job? Some days. Do I like it? Rarely. So where do I go from here?