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The term “mid-life crisis” often refers to the behavior of people who suddenly change their priorities or tastes in life based on, at least on the surface, coming to terms with their age. The term often has a negative connotation, as if a renewed change can only come when someone is in a panicked state of being.
Of course, sometimes this term might even be truthful. If your sibling hits his forties and starts dressing in his skater gear while hanging out at the local parks and doing kickflips all day, you might think there’s something going on there. But the truth is, that a mid-life change isn’t necessarily a “crisis” in and of itself. The truth is that everyone comes to terms with their age when their youthful years are often, and now they meet middle age and their prime years as they grow and learn. That’s very natural and normal.
Moreover, a change at this point isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When you realize that you have one life to live, you tend to want the best for it. Perhaps we can step back a little, stop the judgement, and classify your own approach as a “mid-life resurgence!” This way, you don’t have to feel ashamed or insecure for pursuing new interests, or putting yourself out there al little more.
In this post, we’ll discuss how exactly to do that:
It’s Good To Re-Evaluate & Set Goals
One of the benefits of reaching middle age is that you’re more able to identify what it is that has and hasn’t been serving you in life. When we’re young, we tend to try anything that fits, and sometimes that can lead us down paths that aren’t so helpful.
Perhaps you’ve been working in an industry for some time, but you’re not particularly interested in it. Now could be a good time to draw back and rejoin college, be that taking an online degree, or training for another field and bringing your transferable skills across with you.
Many people think that massive changes during mid-life are a sign that something is wrong, but that’s not necessarily the case. It could be that you’re trying to detach from that which you’re unhappy with, and hoping to focus on that which you appreciate. It’s okay if you’ve changed over the years and have new priorities. However, we would recommend that you take a minute to step back and really think through your options. How would you like to spend your time? If you can achieve that, then over time you’ll be able to set the goals you need for success.
Try Something New & Entertaining
Trying something brand new or opting for a new lifestyle isn’t a crisis, it shows that you’re hoping to finally get to the things you’ve been neglecting. Moreover, is there a better time than now? In middle age, it’s likely that you still have your health, but fingers crossed you’re also in a more stable financial position than you had been previously.
For this reason, now is one of the best times to focus on your passions and even try things out. It might be that now you’re more responsible on the road, can find your route easier and know a little about vehicle maintenance, you talk to TX Toy Sales Used Harley-Davidson Dealer contacts to help you find a bike of your choosing. Maybe you’ll buy a boat used for fishing, or renovate and upgrade a classic car.
It can be healthy to become a novice or to focus on a new hobby in middle aged, because you bring your wisdom and experience to the role, which is much better than starting out as a complete beginner with no previous understanding.
Considering Your Social Circle
In middle age, the quantity of our friendships and close connections tends to wane, but the quality of who we know and how we know them tends to increase and grow. It’s okay to look at your social circle and consider who you wish to spend your time with more and more.
Perhaps you’re not particularly happy with how your cousins or other areas of your family have been behaving as of late, and you’re well within your rights to keep your distance. Maybe you want to curate more of a relationship with your parents now you’re a little older, and this can be a good way to step up and help them ease into their later golden years.
Considering your social circle from time to time, and how you want to invest in it, is always a healthy approach to middle age. After all, you become more cognizant of how you’re spending time and why you’re spending it in the first place, so don’t be afraid to make adjustments, too.
Really Focus On Self-Care
Middle age can bring with it many benefits, be that experience, wisdom, financial stability, perhaps the chance for more serious romantic relationships that are focused on settling down instead of just having fun.
That said, it’s true to say that most people aren’t as spry in their forties as they are when they were twenty one. That’s fine, it’s more than natural. It just provides us with a means to focus the mind, and really get involved in our self-care habits.
For starters, you might choose to limit your vices. Any middle-aged person knows that a hangover can last for days after a night out, not just a morning, and so for this reason it’s good to be careful about how much you indulge. You might get involved in sports such as running, cycling or swimming, and the benefit is that now you’re older, you don’t have to care about what people think when outfitting the full lycra cycling kit. That brings us to an important point:
You Don’t Care What People Think Of You
Of course, caring what people think of us is helpful to some degree. It can show us when we’ve veered off course or might be on an unhealthy path. But when we’re in our youth, we tend to care about how we look, how we come across, and where we sit in the social sphere to an unhealthy degree. That’s not always a good way to live life.
When you reach your forties and beyond, it’s easy to reflect on how unnecessary that was. As such, you’re invited to be your real, cringe self, with all of your strange little idiosyncrasies. Everyone else is like that, anyway, so why hide it? This means if you like singing in the shower, or perhaps getting involved in a hobby that doesn’t “fit” your type of person (for instance, you might be a relatively burly guy who works construction but wishes to learn how to salsa dance), who’s going to stop you? Letting your unique personality fly is one of the benefits of middle age, and luckily, you don’t have to feel shame provided you’re not hurting or frustrating anyone.
You Realize How Little You Know
So far we’ve made reference, many times even, to how wisdom comes when you’re in your forties and beyond. But that’s not always true. Sure, you’re more patient and careful than you were in your youth, and you know the consequences for silly actions much more profoundly, because you’ve experienced them.
That said, it’s okay to reach your forties and realize that you don’t have life figured out completely either. It’s rare that people do. In fact, it’s best to just focus on who and what is important to you, and focus on that. Things tend to work out if you do focus in that direction. Reaching middle age is an exercise in humility, and that can be a wonderful teacher. Some people might look at that and feel terrible, which is why they act out and lead to the stigma of the mid-life crisis. But if you can accept it, laugh at it, and realize that every single person of this age needs to come to this realization, then you’ll feel much healthier about it. Don’t worry, you’ll have the same thoughts at seventy.
Take It Easy
Sometimes, the best thing you can do in life, especially in middle age, is to take it easy. Don’t think you need to achieve everything you haven’t done in a space of ten years. Life is short, but it’s also long, and you’ll have time to get to it.
It’s important to hear that from time to time. If you can focus on such a perspective, then all of a sudden you have the space to really enjoy the things you want to enjoy, and cut out those ‘must-haves’ that you never really felt drawn to in the first place.
Taking it easy allows you to breathe life in more directly, and that in itself can be a worthwhile approach to take.
With this advice, we hope you can avoid the mid-life crisis and its stigma by instead focusing on your very cool mid-life resurgence!
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