Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

If you're not familiar with this then do Google it. I won't go into detail or any arguments about its validity other than I think he had something there. The basic premise is that there is a hierarchy to humans needs both physically and emotionally, and that there is an order to the need we feel to fulfil them. At the bottom of the pyramid is the most basic human physiological needs like food, drink, sleep etc then safety needs, the need to belong, the need for self-esteem and at the top self-actualisation.

So as I approach mid-life I've managed to get a lot of the basic needs covered and having fulfilled these given myself a swift pat on the back. So what next?  Perhaps like others at this stage I start to feel a void as the need to fulfil the next 'level' becomes apparent. Think of it as not feeling the need for dessert until you've had your main course. It's only through the fulfilment of lower needs that I start to sense the lack of fulfilment of those higher up the chain.

So is this also part of the middle life crisis? Have I had my head down for so long at the grindstone that I am only just beginning to raise my eyes up and look to the horizon? Only now that I've started putting the 'needs' to bed that I start looking the to the 'likes' or the 'wants'? Is it only now that I start questioning  whether my glass is half full?