Where do you start again in your fifth decade of life.?

[Skidmore]

I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I can do to jump start getting employement again and realizing full well that I may have to retool. In today's economy, I don't have much choice. I don't know if this is the right forum to post this thread on but I'm sure there are others out there like me and I could sure use some feedback or at least the experiences of others. I've had a difficult year--a bout with cancer and losing my job this spring. I was unable to go out and look for work right away because the year after diagnostic procedures made it difficult for me to function for a while. However, I've been told I'm now in remission and can anticipate remaining so. So here I sit without a job and a Masters degree in a field I'm not certain I'd like to continue in since the only advancement would be to go to the Ph.D. program and teach--something I don't want to do. I've a Masters in Rehab Counseling and I frankly don't have the energy or the will anymore to keep the type of hours that casework requires. I've worked in the area of health care research and public policy development for more than a decade, but funding is drying up. I can't see myself becoming a WallyWorld greeter quite yet, but one thing I know about myself is that I don't do well in retail. I can't just sell something I don't believe in. Not part of my nature. I don't know where to begin now. I feel out of touch. Been thinking about doing a paralegal training course and somehow using that with my Masters to maybe get involved with employment law. Don't know how much of a market there is for that type of work or if it is a realistic combination and am in the process of initiating contacts. Feedback from lawyer types would be welcomed.

I guess I just feel beaten down and at a loss. That this nation really doesn't care about much more than selling junk. That you can spend your whole life pursuing what you think is worthwhile and all that is deemed worthy for investment right now is selling junk. We're not even interested in making junk as a nation right now, just selling it. And that's not what I'm about as a person. I may have to sell junk for a while for income, but I'm not going to sell my soul.

Have you had to start from scratch again in terms of career? How did you go about it? Was it a huge change in focus for your life? How did you see something as an opportunity? How do you get past this numb feeling of being really well trained but not able to benefit from it in any way--even in terms of quality of life?