Mid-Life Niche

I have really been struggling to find my new niche lately.  I'm closing in on 40 and I'm trying really hard to figure out where I'm supposed to go next.  Such an odd place I'm in!  There is no mid-life crisis or anything crazy going on.  In fact, I'm in a better place in my life right now than I can recall in at least the last ten years.  I have an amazing son, the best husband and family anyone could ask for, and a greater will to live according to God's plan than I've had since high school.  No, probably ever.  I'm simply struggling with what to "do" now.  My world today reminds me of something I heard recently about a jelly jar experiment: the more choices consumers were provided with on a jelly jar display, the less likely they were to make a purchase.

Prior to my son's entrance into the world I was always a dog trainer.  That is what I "did" and I couldn't imagine even the remote possibility of doing anything else.  I think I was pretty good at it, too.  Once my son Parker was born I put his needs first and dog training became something I did a day or two a week to get out of the house and maintain my sanity.  I still had a passion for working with the dogs, but I found that working with the owners too much made an already tired mommy an exhausted and frustrated mommy.

When we moved to North Carolina from Georgia for my husband's job I thought at first that I would take my time starting a new dog training business, working my way close to full time once my son entered kindergarten, just as supplemental income.  Within six months of our move I had found a wonderful preschool for Parker--and a renewed love for running.  After all, Parker was only in school for three hours three days a week to start. Enough time for a good run and shower, but not enough time for a dog training appointment.  That's what I told myself, anyway.  About this time I started enjoying some moderate starving artist level success selling prints of my dog portraits.  I began to think that if I could do THAT it would be awesome.  I could work when Parker was asleep at night, still be involved in the dog world, still keep the house, and have some semblance of an outside identity that would earn us a little extra cash.  Maybe I could continue to train dogs every now and then, too.

Fast-forward 2 1/2 years to the beginning of 2013.  (Yes, 2 1/2 years.  Let's just say I fell into a good mommy groove.)  My husband decided to open a CrossFit box with his then coaches and now business partners.  Wanting to support my husband in his decision and enable him to do what he loves and keep his job that pays our bills, I became "Queen Gopher" (self-appointed) and subsequently addicted to CrossFit.  I love our box, our members, and the fact that I have visible trapezius muscles and can do pull-ups for the first time in my fairly athletic life.

For the past few months I've been trying to part with dead weight so that I can be the best mother, wife, and person I can be.  I've been working hard at deciphering the messages God is sending me.  Right about now I'm wishing someone would send me a Rosetta stone.  I've been commissioned for six portraits and had four dog training inquiries (with ZERO advertising) in the past two months.  To top it off, today one of my coaches told me she thought *I* would make a good coach.  I think I would enjoy coaching, although *I'm* not sure I would be particularly good at it.  I used to enjoy training people to train their dogs.  Coaching CrossFit would be sort of like training people to train themselves.  You can't give someone the desire to be more physically fit.  Maybe some people can INSPIRE others, but while I know I'm not that person, a good coach can give someone that has the desire and inspiration the tools to realize their goals.

Parker starts kindergarten in a little more than a month.  I guess it's time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up...

How do I find my mid-life niche?!