WeSA国际影视传媒檝e all heard the cliches: the red sports car, the sudden career change, the gym obsession or the affair.
Midlife is known as "a crisis." A slow unravelling of identity, youth and purpose. Labelling this phase a "crisis" does more harm than good. It carries shame, implying irrationality, instability or selfishness, especially for women, who are often expected to remain steady, self-sacrificing, and unchanging.
What if weSA国际影视传媒檝e been looking at it all wrong?
This "midlife crisis" may be something much deeper and far more powerful: a midlife awakening. Although extremely confusing for some and deeply disastrous for others, it can be embraced, explored and be something to be curious about. Growth is happening.
Around our 40s and 50s, many of us begin to feel a shift. We start to question long-held beliefs, roles and routines. The careers, relationships, habits and identities we once clung to suddenly feel like a snakeskin we've outgrown and no matter how hard we contort ourselves, we cannot fit back into it.
We feel restless, reflective, even disoriented SA国际影视传媒� not because weSA国际影视传媒檙e falling apart, but because weSA国际影视传媒檙e outgrowing who we used to be and either we know the answer immediately, exploding onto a new path or, we suppress the niggling feeling that something feels off and our new thoughts and feelings will pass.
This isnSA国际影视传媒檛 failure. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 growth. Many people start businesses, go back to school, write books, change careers, get divorced, set boundaries, travel solo or heal generational wounds in this stage. They become more of who they are, not less.
A natural time of reflection
Midlife often brings with it new clarity. Our life experiences allow us to start asking bigger questions:
-What actually makes me happy?
-Who am I when ISA国际影视传媒檓 not defined by productivity, people-pleasing, the Mom or Dad label, the CEO?
-What do I want from the next chapter and what do I need to let go of to get there?
-What are my barriers to living a life I'm ecstatic to start living?
These are not crisis questions. They are signs of maturity, depth and wisdom. Just like adolescence marks the transition from childhood to adulthood, midlife marks the transition from living externally to deep internal alignment. It can be messy with big endings, grief, monumental pivots and reinvention of who you thought you were. It can also be a significantly fulfilling time in your life, if you allow it.
I help a lot of clients experiencing the classic 'midlife crisis.' They divulge the feelings they're having but are hiding them from friends and family so as not to appear 'crazy' or that they're letting them down. Most use the tools learned, break free and live a life they love. I also know of a situation where the husband completely unravelled in a way that harmed his family and he's never recovered. He had the affair and tattoo to show for it but didn't take this opportunity as growth. He wasn't in touch with himself to discover what was at the core of his actions and, instead, used avoidance and excuses.
Who are you in this?
The reality of growth
One of the harder truths about this phase of life is that not everyone will come with you. As you grow, reflect and change, it may become clear that some of your relationships, social circles or environments no longer feel aligned. You may outgrow the versions of yourself that tolerated unhealthy dynamics, stayed small to keep the peace or people-pleased to stay accepted.
Sometimes, the people around you will celebrate your growth. But often, your evolution will make others uncomfortable, especially if they havenSA国际影视传媒檛 faced their own patterns or pain. They may criticize your choices, label your transformation as selfish, or try to pull you back into the familiar roles youSA国际影视传媒檙e working hard to release. You're the 'Mom' or 'CEO,' remember?
In my professional experience, those who shame other's growth are indeed envious of the person who has the tools to step out of their life and create something even bigger and better.
That discomfort isnSA国际影视传媒檛 about you. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 about them. And your growth does not require their permission. Stay powerful. Often, a sign of healing is outgrowing the people in your life.
Owning your next chapter
We need a cultural reframe. Midlife doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 have to be feared or ridiculed. It should be honoured as a time of reassessment, renewal, and return to self, to purpose, to deeper connection SA国际影视传媒� but in a new, more aligned way that matches exactly who you are becoming and the chapter you are laying out before you.
This isn't a detour. It's the path. Midlife Is not a crisis. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a calling.
What if instead of dreading midlife, we prepared for it like we prepare young adults for moving out on their own or new parents for childbirth? What if we expected this chapter to bring insight, creativity, clarity and new confidence instead of collapse? Growth can be uncomfortable. There may be grief, loss or disorientation. But discomfort isnSA国际影视传媒檛 dangerous. Sometimes itSA国际影视传媒檚 just your soul stretching into new spaces.
If youSA国际影视传媒檙e in your 40s, 50s, or beyond and feel like somethingSA国际影视传媒檚 shifting, like youSA国际影视传媒檙e not quite who you used to be, embrace it. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 not a crisis. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 an emerging.
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