Hi Winston
I can recall some time ago wondering about the mid life crisis factor. Btw, I'm a 52yo gal. I went on to consider some of the most outstanding periods in life that can involve overwhelming struggle for a number of reasons. Typically, somewhere around the ages of 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 can come with a crisis of identity. All can involve common questions, such as 'Who am I really?', 'Who do I truly wish to be?', 'Am I happy with myself and my life?' etc. Give or take a few years, they tend to come at 15 year intervals and they can kind of feel like 'wake up' calls in some way. The mid life crisis (of identity) happens to be mid way or smack bang in the middle.
It's tough when those points in life can involve a kind of brush off attitude by the people around us. At 15 we can get from adults 'We all went through that (the transition from dependence to semi dependence). You need to stop whinging about how hard life is. Just be grateful for all you have'. At 30, 'You need to grow up' with perhaps little guidance when it comes to how to do it in regard to the next stage of our life. At 45-50 'You're just going through 'a mid life crisis'', which is often brushed off with a laugh, as though it's a joke. At 60, a period of deeper reflection and a chance to change our ways in the lead up to retirement becomes an alarming wake up call for some. 75 becomes the call to retire into the kind of life we once dreamed of (the kid in us coming back to life while the funds are now there to play with, adventure with). The grey nomad takes full advantage.
Mid life, the mantras can kinda sound a little like
- I'm so exhausted
- I'm so angry all the time
- I'm so stressed and/or depressed
- I don't know what's wrong with me
and on it goes.
Working out exactly why the exhaustion (lack of energy), anger, stress and/or depression, lack of self understanding etc all exist, can be a massive challenge.
