Or is it onward and upward?
I feel Old. I look terrible. I’m tired. I hear and read this far too often for my liking. Often from people I think should “know better”. It really needs to stop!
Middle Age/Midlife/Midpoint is my home for now. The uncomfortable part where you feel different in some ways — older but nowhere near old or over. Perhaps with a nagging sense, this is a better time than you realise. And to be honest, lucky to be enjoying a life stage, my forbears did not.
I’m pretty comfortable here and take the obvious positive — I have made it this far!
I’m doing okay and every day I wake up I’m building on this solid start.
This has however come with some (internal to me) expectations.
I ought to be “set” for life by now.
My home should be a palace.
My retirement planning should be complete, my goal “number” set.
Expectation, however, can be wonderful and savage at the best of times. Add a global pandemic into the mix and it is even more challenging!
Being self-employed in midlife when everything closes up is not a great place to be — particularly when you were just starting on a new chapter. The doubts make themselves welcome in your head.
The temptation is to think about more straightforward and more comfortable times when everything felt easier and new. To reminisce only about the good old days and not overthink about the apocalyptic future that awaits us.
Hard as it is, I check myself. I think about possibilities and remind myself of the facts I know.
You are likely only at the halfway point.
The opportunity has gone nowhere. It just looks different, and you don’t yet recognise it for what it is!
That holiday, learning French to a good conversational standard, that Economics degree can all happen if you focus your mind on it. In fact, it is more likely now than at any previous stage of life.
So next time you felt the doubts kick in, check some data on life expectancy or what you can do to help age well. You might just help yourself extend your horizon and allow yourself a heap of new chances to do something great.
It is not about turning back time it is about taking your time and enjoying the ride! After all, isn’t that the real fun part?
Main photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels
