First, hello from down the road in Lynchburg. C-ville isn't that far out in the boonies. Heck, you're just an hour or so from the beltway.
For all of your explaining, you never got around to saying what you liked doing. Do you like working for yourself or in a team, do you want to pursue education at any cost, or do you want to fit into some large corporate system?
It sounds like you enjoyed your startup experience and would like to repeat it, but I'm not sure.
I can tell you what I would do, because I'm getting ready to do it again. Find something to pour yourself into for a while, and enjoy working on something bigger than yourself. This can be another startup, or charity, or creating a new solution for world hunger, or whatever, but the key is that it can't be simple self-gratification.
Doing this allows you to grow, and prevents the over-specialization, boredom, and frustration that can be part of large corps. It also allows you to put some of those fun P-classes to work in a practical manner. But you really have to have drive to make it work.
You could embrace your inner lazy person and work hard for a few years with the idea of retiring early. That's a cool plan. But the real question is whether you're going to actively do something or passively wait around for life to happen to you. That's a question only you can answer.
For all of your explaining, you never got around to saying what you liked doing. Do you like working for yourself or in a team, do you want to pursue education at any cost, or do you want to fit into some large corporate system?
It sounds like you enjoyed your startup experience and would like to repeat it, but I'm not sure.
I can tell you what I would do, because I'm getting ready to do it again. Find something to pour yourself into for a while, and enjoy working on something bigger than yourself. This can be another startup, or charity, or creating a new solution for world hunger, or whatever, but the key is that it can't be simple self-gratification.
Doing this allows you to grow, and prevents the over-specialization, boredom, and frustration that can be part of large corps. It also allows you to put some of those fun P-classes to work in a practical manner. But you really have to have drive to make it work.
You could embrace your inner lazy person and work hard for a few years with the idea of retiring early. That's a cool plan. But the real question is whether you're going to actively do something or passively wait around for life to happen to you. That's a question only you can answer.