When you look at your life or better yet, when someone else looks at you, chances are that things look fine or even good. Maybe you have a good job, you bring in a decent income, you have a good relationship, maybe even children or pets and you live in a nice house.
Even though you might have love for people in your life, or you might love your job, some people just feel that no matter what they have, they feel empty inside. The things that are happening around you seem to crumble and seem to be wrong.
You might not know what is wrong with you and even though you know that you have settled in your life, you don’t feel good about it right now. The problem might be that you’re going through a midlife crisis.
Midlife Crisis
Of course, this term might seem like something that is cliché, but the truth is that you can search your life and you will find that a midlife crisis might be just exactly what is happening to you.
Understanding a Midlife Crisis
A mid-life crisis often happens to people that are between the ages of 45 and 70 years of age. This is a time when people get upset about where they are in their life, and they try to find something better. This isn’t uncommon and especially in the western world, it is widely known.
Some call this a “developmental crisis” and it can be a time where your spiritual self is even lacking. This can be a time of rebirth or even death and this is a time that your midlife crisis can cause you to feel the death of things in a more extenuated way.
Symptoms of a Midlife Crisis
There are different thoughts, feelings and other things that can come when someone is going through a midlife crisis. Here are some of the most known symptoms:
- Fearful
Some people realize that they are getting older, and they start thinking about death. This can bring fear into their life. This can cause more anxiety and cause there to be worried and even a fear of things like death.
- Questioning Life
You might begin to ask questions about your life and the purpose that you have. Some will search for their soul purpose and what their destiny is.
- Stagnant Feeling
There are some people that will feel stuck, or they will feel that they aren’t able to move forward or to grow. This is when your ego becomes hard, and you get stuck in routines.
- Want for Adventure
Some will want to have new adventures and will seek out ways to find this. Others will avoid feelings of being stuck.
- Depression or Anxiety
There are some people that will start to feel depressed or anxious in their life. They will be occupied with things that they want to bring them peace and joy.
- Disillusioned
When you look back at your life, you will need to have peace and happiness, and this will be something that you are continuing to search for.
- Missing Your Purpose
You might wonder what your life purpose is and how you can reach it. You might ask questions in your mind about how your life is supposed to go.
- Time Becomes Important
When you get older, you will see that time really does fly and you will be more careful about how you spend your time. You might wonder if you have accomplished all of the things that you should have been doing.
- Pondering on Relationships
There will be people that will look deep into their relationships and see if they are still happy with their partner, if their friends meet their needs and if they are emotionally where they want to be in their relationships.
- Impulsive
Having a fear of wasting your life is something that can come to play during this time. You might be uncomfortable with where you are and so you begin to make impulsive decisions.
- Psychosomatic Sickness
The stress that you experience during this time can cause you to have mental problems and to have other physical problems such as chronic pain, insomnia, headaches and more.
- Change of Values
You may find that your values are changing and that you have other things that are more important to you now than they were in the past.
Men Versus Women
There are differences of what a midlife crisis looks like for both a man and a woman. For men it might look like:
- Having no sex desires.
- Comparing yourself with other people that are more successful.
- Being impulsive or feeling trapped.
- Feeling numb.
For women it might look like:
- Caring too much about your looks.
- Increased stress.
- Feeling empty.
- Wondering who you really are.
It can be hard to really pinpoint the symptoms and both men and women can share the same symptoms of a midlife crisis.
What Does a Midlife Crisis Really Mean?
There are different things and different people that will tell you how to deal with a midlife crisis and some of the information can be helpful. There are also spiritual resources that you can find online that can help you to deal with what is going on in your life.
A midlife crisis is really just a time where you need to have a deeper conversation with your heart and your soul. It is a time that you need to open up your soul connection and you need to reconnect with who you are.
When you face the fact that you really are going through a midlife crisis, you can figure out how to bring normalcy into your life.
Embracing Your Midlife Crisis
Many people suppress their midlife crisis but once you learn how to embrace it, you can be much better off. The spiritual calling that you have in your life can cause you to have to deal with things faster. This can be a near-death experience, the loss of a loved one, depression or other things.
Quarter-Life Crisis
There are times that you might want to look at your life such as in your quarter-life crisis. This happens after you get out of high school or college, and it is a time when you need to find out who you are. You need to figure out if you are an adult or a child still.
This can be a time when you aren’t sure about who you are and what you believe, and you need to do some deep searching to figure out your identity. Once you figure out who you are and what you want in your life then you will move on.
Midlife-Crisis
Next is the midlife crisis, which we discussed above. This might happen and cause you to have an affair or to get a divorce. This is a time where you need to realize, and you have realized that you aren’t going to live forever.
Most people will have these midlife crisis after they have already raised a family and they are working towards their career goals.
Deathbed Crisis
The last of these is the deathbed crisis. This is when you look at death coming to you, and you realize that you have things that you want to do in your last moments. This can be a time of reflection and a time of connecting with your soul. This is when you can have freedom.
You have to accept that you are going to die, and these three steps are big milestones in your life, and they can cause you to have fulfillment and to have joy as you grow. Once you understand the three crises, you can reflect on how they affect you and how they make you feel.
Whatever you are feeling is a valid feeling and you should embrace it and not try to push it away.
Accepting the Midlife Crisis
Don’t run away from what you are feeling or try to hide it. Allow your midlife crisis to come to you and let your journey move forward. This can be a mental, physical, or spiritual journey that you move on.
As you accept your midlife crisis, you can be more open, and you can work through things. Here is how:
Surrender
You have to learn to let go of things and to surrender that you are at this stage in your life. Don’t let things hold you back such as old beliefs or old responsibilities. Learn to take care of who you are and what you need.
When you surrender, you will allow yourself to let go of things that limit you and you can let your soul reach its deepest dreams.
You can meditate and be mindful and this will help you to get rid of things in your life that are holding you back from being your best.
Journal
Journal the things that you are going through and don’t try to make it sweet. Make sure that you write down everything you are thinking and feeling. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- When did your midlife crisis begin?
- What are your feelings?
- Are you taking care of yourself? How?
- What do you value?
- What things would you like to do?
- How can you walk your own path?
- What is hidden that you can learn from this?
Mentor
Find a mentor to help you through your midlife crisis. As you experience new things, find someone that has already gone through it and that can connect with you and lead you down the right path.
This can be a life coach, a therapist or someone else that would be able to help you.
Be Your Own Friend
It can be lonely when you go through a midlife crisis. You will have people leave that you were close to and people not there to help you that you thought would be. Get to know yourself more and pay attention to how you are living.
Go out and have fun, take a vacation, eat at your favorite places, buy yourself flowers or do whatever it takes to make yourself feel good.
Spirituality
Open up your spiritual path and your feelings. Have respect for where you are and for what you believe in your life. A midlife crisis can cause you to search your soul and instead of becoming addicted to bad things, find ways to look at your shadow self and bring healing in your life.
Find the spiritual path that you want to go on. Go out and walk in nature, meditate, read, listen to pod casts, or do what it takes to feel better about your life.
Final Thoughts
Everyone will come to a point in their life where they realize that life is coming to a different place, and this is often when the midlife crisis comes. This can be a time to do some soul searching and to help you to get on the right path.
Whatever you experience during your midlife crisis can help you to become a better version of yourself. Embrace this and live your best life.