Mid Life Crisis

So, I'm starting this blog at a time I feel like I'm going through a "midlife crisis" if there is really such a thing. The Wikipedia encyclopedia describes a midlife crisis as follows.

Midlife crisis is a term coined in 1965 by Elliott Jaques and used in Western societies to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" or middle age of life, as a result of sensing the passing of their own youth and the imminence of their old age. Sometimes, a crisis can be triggered by transitions experienced in these years, such as extramarital affairs, andropause or menopause, the death of parents or other causes of grief, unemployment or underemployment, realizing that a job or career is hated but not knowing how else to earn an equivalent living, or children leaving home. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day-to-day life or situation, such as in career, work-life balance, marriage, romantic relationships, big-ticket expenditures, or physical appearance.

Academic research since the 1980s rejects the notion of midlife crisis as a phase that most adults go through. In one study, fewer than 10% of people in the United States had psychological crises due to their age or ageing.^[1] Personality type and a history of psychological crisis are believed to predispose some people to this "traditional" midlife crisis.^[2] People going through this suffer a variety of symptoms and exhibit a disparate range of behaviors.

Many middle aged adults experience major life events that can cause a period of psychological stress or depression, such as the death of a loved one, or a career setback. However, those events could have happened earlier or later in life, making them a "crisis," but not necessarily a midlife one. In the same study, 15% of middle-aged adults experienced this type of midlife turmoil.

For my husband and I, the urgency for a career change is upon us. The work-life balance is something we are very focused on. We have also been re-evaluating financial investments to make sure we feel like they are serving us as they should. The other things listed above aren't really issues except maybe my vanity of not wanting to look older!