There’s this myth that once we hit a certain age something crazy will happen. That, just like magic, we will begin to spiral out of control in a series of bad decisions in hopes of figuring out the meaning of life.
The middle of our life is, of course, filled with events that most people haven’t yet experienced in such depth. We start to self-reflect on whether our dreams have come true. The hopes and goals we had in our younger years may no longer be possible – and that can be a hard pill to swallow. We might not be in a career that makes us happy, or feels purposeful. Our relationships aren’t the fairytale we expected them to be. We look at our children and realise our future image of them is evolving from being a successful doctor to praying they learn how to do their own laundry. Add in dealing with death, our bodies falling apart from ageing, hormones, job redundancies, marriage breakdowns, and the world around us evolving to a point where we feel like dinosaurs that just can’t keep up.
This period of time, though, can be a point to shift the focus. Re-assess, figure out what you want to happen next and how to get there. It’s more of an opportunity that some realise. It’s a time to allow a little introspection (looking inside yourself), having a moment to reflect on how you feel about where you’re at in life. Allow yourself to feel upset, disappointed, doubtful, angry – whatever you find inside. Think about why those feelings are there – because they are likely affecting you on a daily basis more than you know. Negative feelings creep into our interactions, our jobs, our relationships. Discovering why they’re there gives us the opportunity to grow and figure out what’s next. You’re in control of your future.
How is your identity going to be different ten years from now? How are you going to redefine yourself? What new things are you going to immerse yourself in? It’s time to start asking and answering these questions for yourself. If you don’t like the future version of you based on the person you are today, then it’s up to you to put in the effort, starting now.
Buy, today isn’t about planning out the rest of your life. Small steps. Everything is achievable, in bite – size pieces. This week is about acknowledging and accepting you’re in a new phase of your journey. Allow yourself hope and reassurance for the future.
This week, learn how to self-reflect and process the pass. It’s time to do a little introspection. Allow yourself to think, to feel, to process, to feel new.
Read the how to guide for self-reflection here.
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