Optimizing options

One of my favorite Tom Robbins quotes is from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues:  "It is questionable, for that matter, whether success is an adequate response to life.  Success can eliminate as many options as failure."  That is how work, my career, felt for me.  So much of my time, and most of my energy, went into my job that I didn't have enough of either left over to explore all the other things that I was interested in doing or learning about.  I felt like I was constantly shuffling my "outside of work" time trying to fit in as many of my interests as possible.  But, I never felt like I had time to get very deep into anything. Maybe I will always feel that way, but at least now I have the opportunity to find out.  I realize that I am still not going to be able to do everything--even in retirement I won't have that much time, so I think I need to explore for a while until I settle upon a direction.  Then once I have headed in a certain direction, I need to stay open to changing course if I want to, and I don't need to feel guilty if I do.