Is your mid-life crisis really a crisis or is it a new kind of sanity that has finally found its way to your door?
When you decide to throw off your clothes and go running into the backyard to cool off because you’re having a hot flash, is that crazy or is it the freedom that comes with not really caring what the heck people think anymore?
And if you suddenly take up surfing, train for a marathon and decide to get your pilot’s license, are you losing it, or are you gaining the courage to go for it?
There is something that happens in our 30’s and 40’s that seems to fall away when we enter our 50’s.
Maybe the structure that we create in order to build our careers, raise children, forge relationships and create traditions, is less necessary when we reach our 50’s? All of a sudden, some of the “rules” that we made to support our goals and dreams are no longer necessary, once we have achieved those goals and dreams?
Anyone who is a first child, probably remembers that the rules they had to live by as a child, were a lot more iron clad than the ones their youngest siblings had to adhere to. That’s because mom got a little older (and wiser?) There is safety in structure. But as time goes on, we learn the subtleties of structure and where we can loosen the reins.
Living within a structure provides a perfect base from which to let go. And once in your 50’s, you have the chance to let go and play around with “the rules.” Becoming more flexible with yourself and others, can be like peeling off your Spanx and kicking off your high heels after a long night on your feet. Now that’s a mid-life crisis I can get behind!
Rather than seeing the 50’s as filled with endings, maybe we can see it as an opportunity to fully step in to ourselves?
Yes, it can be a bittersweet time; our children are leaving the nest and there are a few more wrinkles looking back at us each morning. But let’s focus on the sweetness.
What can you do with the time you used to spend on your children? How can you challenge yourself? What are some of those dreams that you had in your 20’s, but happily put on hold to take on other responsibilities? And if those wrinkles really bother you – there are solutions for that too!
Coach Me Quick Tips for Designing Your Mid-Life Crisis:
- Finish this sentence: I have always wanted to…..
- And this one: The top three items on my bucket list are….
- How about this?: People will think I’m crazy but I’d really love to….
- And: What if…
- What can you do today to get started?
Surfing, running and flying in L.A.,
Jamee
Photo credit: James Vaughan via Compfight
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