Am I in denial? The symptoms are there, but what differentiates a reasonable middle aged re-evaluation and a mid life crisis? This has prompted me to do a little research on the topic and it really is quite scary. Whilst there are many amusing anecdotes there also some terrible tales of the damage and hurt that a mid life crisis can cause. Yep, I may regret having not done some things so far but there's plenty of tales about people who have gone on to regret what they did as a result of a mid life crisis.
Well the mid life bit is easy so what constitutes a crisis? Time for a quick look at the dictionary:
Cri-sis [noun]
Hmmm, a 'condition of instability or danger', quite possibly. 'Dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval', 'point in a story at which hostile elements are most tensely opposed to each other'. Certainly these fit a few of the tales I've read about. But what about 'for better or worse', many of us had heard that before, isn't that the the vow us married couples make to each other??? Of course as well as the term 'mid life crisis' do we also have the term 'averting a crisis'.
A-vert [verb]
People seem to talk of mid life crisis with a certain aspect of inevitability but for every tale of mid life crisis there are far more cases where it either wasn't an issue or just didn't happen. Whilst I feel the need for some tweaks or changes to the way lead my life I'm yet to feel the desire to do anything too radical. Tweaks are fine, if we're honest tweaking is what we've been doing all of our lives. Maybe tweaking hasn't been enough and maybe a larger change of course is required. Crisis only seems to refer to drastic measures. So how to make larger tweaks but avert the crisis?
Well the mid life bit is easy so what constitutes a crisis? Time for a quick look at the dictionary:
Cri-sis [noun]
- a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.
- a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political, or international affairs, leading to a decisive change.
- a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life.
- the point in a play or story at which hostile elements are most tensely opposed to each other.
Hmmm, a 'condition of instability or danger', quite possibly. 'Dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval', 'point in a story at which hostile elements are most tensely opposed to each other'. Certainly these fit a few of the tales I've read about. But what about 'for better or worse', many of us had heard that before, isn't that the the vow us married couples make to each other??? Of course as well as the term 'mid life crisis' do we also have the term 'averting a crisis'.
A-vert [verb]
- to turn away or aside
- to ward off, prevent
People seem to talk of mid life crisis with a certain aspect of inevitability but for every tale of mid life crisis there are far more cases where it either wasn't an issue or just didn't happen. Whilst I feel the need for some tweaks or changes to the way lead my life I'm yet to feel the desire to do anything too radical. Tweaks are fine, if we're honest tweaking is what we've been doing all of our lives. Maybe tweaking hasn't been enough and maybe a larger change of course is required. Crisis only seems to refer to drastic measures. So how to make larger tweaks but avert the crisis?
Step 1: Recognition
Step 2: Acceptance, not denial.
Step 3: Come up with a plan!
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