I found the best thing to do for a living is live it ..yes trite i know .... what ever it is .. working takes up a major chunk of life ..i found after going to collage and Uni and trying a number of jobs , some totally unconected to my degree , that for me , the actual job mattered little .. ok its not boringly repetative and im not in nasty conditions ..but beyond that the content is less important than being able to finish work at the end of the day in a good mood , ready to get on with life , doing my stuff , seeing my friends , having time to indulge my real passions ...
i did have to accept that there is no great carrer ladder for me to climb and ill never earn a large wage .. but unlike many friends i m not stressed out at the end of the day ....and i still have the funds to live the way i want ..
However it does take effort and the willingness to look for a job you can live with , i spent 2 years changing till i got lucky ....
btw you are never to late to "take the risk" ...)..
remember you work to live , not live to work ...