A rant on an old profession

I wonder what type of personality traits a person has that makes them step outside of what they know to do something that makes them happy. I have been doing a great deal of research about how to follow my dream to become a photographer and what I have found time and time again, are stories of people who gave up very comfortable livings in careers that give them the opportunity to achieve "success". People have chosen to give up careers as corporate attorneys, bankers, and yes even nurses. They have chosen to leave these comfort zones behind and take a leap of faith and follow a dream. What many of them have also pointed out is that this often results in a certain level of downsizing in the "lifestyle" dept but many of them say they would not take it back.
I have thought to myself... "am I the type of person who could live a much more simple lifestyle than I do right now?" Before I found myself in this magnificent marriage, I did live a bit more simply. I drove a simple American car, I lived in a simple American house with a $500 a month mortgage payment, I took trips around America and have seen the wonders that this magnificently diverse landscape still has to offer (before we flatten it all out to make 8 lane superhighways), and as far as those parts of my life were concerned... I was happy with them... but I was still missing something... the true love of a mate to share them with. Now I am blissfully in love... driving a $37,000 truck (still American by the way), paying half the mortgage on a $200,000 home I neither chose nor have any ownership in, taking $10,000 "trips of a lifetime" every year. I have done and experienced more amazing things in the last three years than I could have ever imagined and they have been absolutely AMAZING! So in order to continue doing those things is it necessary for me to continue on in a profession that neither fulfills me nor makes me happy anymore?
I have wondered many times if I am not just going through some sort of VERY PREMATURE mid life crisis. Do I just need to buck up and realize that I will likely never be a National Geographic photographer? The people I have researched who gave up promising careers to follow this dream are now making their money taking wedding photos and senior pictures... which would still be more fun than working the graveyard shift in the ER listening to the same people every night complaining about their chronic back/head/abdominal/chest pain. Professional photographers tend to get to capture the best and most substantial times in the lives of people. They get to be there at the weddings, the mitzphas, the milestones... Nurses get to be there at the passings and the agonies. I used to say that I would be a nurse even if they did not pay me for it... I loved it that much... but experiences over the last couple of years have left me bitter and jaded and as a result I don't want to play this game anymore. I don't want to be part of a profession that values cheaper youth over more expensive experience when there are actual human lives at stake. I don't want to be part of a profession that will not only allow but encourage the type of lateral violence and bullying I (and many others) have experienced. I don't want to be part of a profession that fosters infighting and backstabbing in order to save your own ass... I have thought of joining the Peace Corps to get back to the basics of why I used to love this profession. I used to love the fact that I could make a difference... I could somehow touch the life of another human and even in their worst of days I could bring them a little comfort. That is what nursing used to be about... now the profession is filled with men and women who chose nursing school because they like the idea of getting paid pretty good money and you only have to work three twelve hour shifts a week. They do not care about the patients... they do not care about the profession and they certainly do not care about their co-workers. Nursing is not supposed to be easy... if done correctly it should be mentally, physically, and emotionally draining, but to the newbies who are there to collect the quick easy big paychecks it is none of these.
So what does an old dog do to move from the "what I have always done" comfort zone to the "what I have always wanted to do" jumping off point? those decisions are yet to be made. The one thing I do know is that I am renewing my commitment to myself to continue improving my craft and do what I can to take this from occasional hobby to practiced craft.