Mid-Life Crisis is a Myth

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mid-life crisis is a myth

Every stage in life, at one point or another, may be faced with crisis. This is especially true with transitions in life. Take the confusion often experienced by youth as they mature from children into adults. Add into the equation the ongoing challenges surrounding school, graduation, college, career – and at times it can seem like things are on the verge of falling apart. The same is with other changes in our lives: each transition is often accompanied with some form of crisis. Some say that, “Life is one crisis after another.” So the mid-life crisis is just another in a series. But are any of those life stages really moments of crisis?

Harness Discomfort for Self-Growth

When we look closer at these so called “crises,” they actually are not “crises” at all. They are simply the unease that comes when our comfort zones are disrupted as we prepare to grow into a new state. Every transition, every metamorphosis consists of an uncomfortable state — a void — that stands between our previous state of being and our new state of being. If you take a myopic look at the moment of discomfort it can appear like a crisis — an upheaval of the status quo. But when you take a broader look at the bigger picture, it really is a stepping stone to reaching a new stage.

When you see your life as disjointed fragments, then a move from one fragment to the next can be disorienting, posing a crisis. But when you see your life as a journey — the ongoing journey of your soul, which has come into this world to accomplish a mission — then the whole idea of a mid-life crisis is a myth. This is not to say that entering a new stage in life doesn’t come with challenges: feeling confused or bored or anxious. But those challenges are actually opportunities in your ongoing mission: those feelings of confusion, boredom, and anxiety can be transformed into the fuel that energizes the move into the next phase of your life. If you’ve forgotten who you are, then rediscover it.

Take Your Life Experience to a New Dimension

Those with the most experience have the most to give. Mid-life is nothing more than a stage that feels awkward and new; but, when your kids have grown self-reliant and suddenly you have a new life before you, your soul’s mission continues. It never ends. Only now, it takes on a new dimension.

Your Potential Is Limitless

Ultimately, it will be up to you how you live up to your potential. And that’s the best part — you have a choice in the matter: To age or to s-age. You are not a victim of age. With all of your sage life experience, you now have new opportunities to share your knowledge, to teach, to learn more often, to write, to play music, or to set up an easel in the grass at the park and paint. If you’ve been so busy over the years that you’ve forgotten the things you love to do, now is the time to remember those things that made you feel like you were bringing something unique into the world.

 


Go deeper into this subject: MyLife: Chassidus Applied Episode 72 | The 42 Journeys of Your Life | Growing Old: The Folly and Opportunity of Retirement

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