Changing Paths

I often read in the media that we are living in a world in which people will enjoy several careers and where the ability to change your life path will be a critical capability. I can see something in this because I have always been in jobs where change is constant and I mostly work on projects so by nature my work is dynamic. However, I have not been called upon to make a step change in my career since I decided that I never wanted to work in a factory again and I left my job as a clean room besuited manufacturing engineer to join the massed ranks of IT consultants plying their wares internationally.
I do know of many people who have made step changes out of IT. Most of these were married women who went back to college to train into teachers, psychologists and other more social professions. I do know a couple of men who went into retail businesses. However, as a rule, men seem to be stuck more fast in their professions because of the fact that the traditional role as the chief bread winner has not gone away. In Holland the normal model is for women to move from full-time to part-time work on having children. In this country the 1.5 income family is the norm. If you have two thirds of the financial responsibility for the family your choices are restricted.
I graduated from Webster University in 2006 with a Master of Business Administration degree which I had studied for via a combination of evening class modules and on-line. It was a very hard thing to combine with having a job and a family as well as my language studies so I was very proud of the achievement. My goal was to use this degree as a springboard for another step change. However, things have not worked out the way I had hoped.
An essential part of me seems to have gone, I no longer have the will or energy to take risks. I moan about my situation but I do nothing about it. My enemy is within me. I am 36 so I am still far too young to be coasting but that's what I seem to be doing. Being married and having three young children does make a difference to the whole equation because any decision I make has a direct effect on them. It's more than that though, I seem to have lost confidence in my ability to do things well.
I find myself wishing for externalities. If I were forced to take action then I would have to fly again. But I know that I should not be looking for answers without but within. Is this why so many Americans have therapists?