Midlife - Crisis or Opportunity?
May 14, 2008 – 11:58 pmWhen I find articles that I feel offer words of wisdom and are worthy of inclusion on my blog, I give the author the praise, recognition and exposure which their writing talents deserve. The following article by Karen Knott should provide inspiration to anybody that requires a little bit of motivation with their life.
Midlife crisis. These two words are so regularly linked together that they’ve turned into a catchphrase. The phrase has now become the shorthand code we use when alluding to the challenges that people of ‘a certain age’ find themselves dealing with.
Midlife opportunity on the other hand, is not a phrase we are likely to be familiar with. ‘Well of course not,’ you may be thinking, ‘what’s opportunity got to do with midlife?’ A lot, as it happens.
This Chinese Proverb sums up the situation in a nutshell, in the way that only proverbs can:
“A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind”
As we reach mid life, many of us are all too aware of ‘the dangerous wind’ but find it considerably harder to spot any ‘opportunity’ blowing along side! So, here are some ideas that may help you begin to recognise the potential opportunities riding the dangerous wind of your midlife crisis.
An opportunity for learning.
It’s perfectly normal at midlife to reflect on the past and to feel a sharp sting of regret about some aspect of life that didn’t quite work out as planned — maybe an opportunity not taken, something we wished we had said and done or not said and done.
Let’s face it, we all have regrets but dwelling on what can’t be undone, simply fuels feelings of powerlessness. Alternatively, we can use these feelings as a catalyst for positive change. Midlife can be a unique opportunity to reflect, to let go of the past and use what we’ve learned to make a new beginning.
An opportunity for self knowledge.
We are all capable of self-deception from time to time… like the purchase of that size 10 skirt that we’ll ‘diet into by summer’. But what about when we ignore the inner voices of discontent and feelings of restlessness that surface at midlife?
Do we deny the thoughts and feelings and let the frustration simmer away for a few more weeks, months or even years, until it inevitably boils over? How much better might we feel, if we choose instead, to listen to our inner voice and acknowledge its insistent plea to re-examine who we are and what’s important to us NOW?
An opportunity to make changes for the better.
Having spent a good part of our adult life making decisions based on the needs of our nearest and dearest, when it comes to making decisions about our own life in our middle years we often find the prospect overwhelming. We can be left helplessly wishing or yearning, paralysed by fears of making the ‘wrong’ choices.
The opportunity here is to take responsibility for making change happen and happen the way we want it to. Imagine how much easier decision making would be, if we were able to make authentic choices about the things that feel good for us, that fit with our values and ideas about how we want to spend our time and energy.
An opportunity to make the most of our time.
Midlife is the time when we recognize that there may be fewer years ahead than behind and when we’re forced to acknowledge that like it or not, our time is limited and not full of infinite ‘tomorrows’. This is undoubtedly a painful and difficult acknowledgment to make but yes, there is an opportunity to be found here too — along with this new awareness we have a chance to see time as the precious commodity that it is and make plans to ensure we spend it wisely.
My own article which I wrote not so long ago, I feel can also help you to move forward with your life Dream the Dream, Then All You Have To Do Is Believe, Achieve, Succeed
If you are having a bit of a midlife cricis, my adivice is have a nice break somewhere and take things easy, here are some great places worth visiting 5 Cities You Should Really Visit
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Knott http://EzineArticles.com/?Midlife—Crisis-or-Opportunity?&id=1164940
