Midlife crisis? How about midlife opportunity!

Today's blog is by Assistant District Manager Melvyn Howe. Since 1965 there have been studies suggesting a mid-life crisis of some sort awaits most of us.

It apparently lurks in the wings of age, ready to pounce, corrode our identities, and leave us confused and ruing missed opportunities.Our responses can apparently range from new wardrobes, the sports car we couldn’t afford in our twenties and even an affair.My experience is that it doesn’t need to be that way.Long before I reached midlife I began refusing to subscribe to the idolisation of youth and through that a more focused sense of “newness” and “nowness” filled my consciousness and noticeably reduced my fear of aging.After hanging up my notebook on a 40-year career in journalism, I quickly realised it was more important than ever before to maintain my sense of purpose and value.This consistent mental spring-cleaning helped negate such insidious suggestions as “I am too old” for this or “too old” for that activity.Indeed, I found exciting new ways to help others , which gave me a tremendous sense of fulfillment.I also made sure I remained physically active, and to this day continue to regularly visit a local gym where I often lift more weights than those a third of my age.As one year of retirement headed for two I became increasingly hungry for a new focus.I have consistently found that holding a worthy goal in thought always brings a welcome result. And so it proved to be when, a few months ago, I was invited to apply for a new job.Now, as I am increasingly enriched by new skills, exciting horizons of achievement beckon.My experience is not unusual according to recent research which shows the threat of mid-life nasties is apparently metamorphosing into the promise of a graceful period of transition.Carlo Strenger, a psychoanalyst and associate professor of psychology at Tel Aviv University in Israel, published a paper in the Harvard Business Review, suggesting while some change at this stage is inevitable, traumatic self-doubt is “increasingly rare”.In an interview with PsychCentral he said: ““If you make fruitful use of what you’ve discovered about yourself in the first half of your life, the second half can be the most fulfilling.”According to the research, co-authored with Israeli researcher Arie Ruttenberg, improved life expectancy and other factors are instead encouraging productive second careers for those reaching 50.“We argue that for a growing number of people, the midlife years can be a period of unprecedented opportunity for inner growth,” the paper stated.This, to me confirms where the most important change takes place - in our thinking! This sort of spiritual awakening enables us to better understand who and what we are.This is not about an infusion of so-called positive thinking to deal with mid-life’s mental meanderings when they surface, although this approach is undoubtedly helpful to some.What I have found from adopting this more spiritual view and understanding of identity is that we are not helpless captives of age-limited opportunities.We don’t need to subscribe to the stereotypical views of and age and bracket ourselves as either disaffected, angry youths with a bleak outlook on the future, or grumpy seniors complaining of a growing litany of ailments.Instead we can embrace and celebrate the fact that each moment every one of us is full of promise and purpose.