It’s common to think of middle age as the end of so many things, without considering that with every ending, there is also a new beginning.
While it is true that the younger years are over, midlife does not signify that vitality and purpose have ended. The opposite is often true. With raising children and career development coming to a mellow plateau, this middle season is full of wisdom and clarity about what we want (and don’t want) to foster in the years ahead.
When we reframe midlife as another section of the journey, it takes on a new light. Much like the earlier seasons, it asks to be chosen and sculpted into something of value. The difference is that it comes after many miles traveled, and brings enormous personal insight. If we don’t get mired and stuck in regret and should-haves, we can celebrate our path, and joyfully see that our lives have become a tapestry that tells a magnificent story of triumph and failure, winning and losing, joy and grief.
This season of reflection on your hard-won experience can infuse life with new vitality and energy. There is time to explore new interests, dream of different pursuits, and dabble in what sounds good and feels fun. Middle age sets the stage for a profound truth: we can reinvent ourselves at any age.
This sounds exciting, of course, but when the years have worn a deep tread in our path, how do we change direction without the wheels coming off entirely?
A good place to start is with the question: Who Am I?
This is an exciting time when you reevaluate what matters to you, without as much accommodation and sacrifice on behalf of others.
Margo | Poetic Hues | New York
In this space of freedom, you can effectively clarify your values and priorities, to shape the years ahead into a life that gives you updated meaning and purpose. This can be terrifying initially because changing habits of mind and action feels risky and disorienting. With patience, courage, and compassion, the answer to “Who Am I Now?” will come.
Another valuable question is, What do I want? At a surface glance, this question sounds like an investigation into material comforts, like vacations or items you’ve envied in the past. Ask instead what knowledge or skills you wish you had, and how you want to feel about yourself and your role in the world. A vision of what you want to do builds confidence for decisive action toward a new version of you.
Then ask yourself, How do I want to serve with my life? In other words, what gifts are uniquely mine to give? This is the pinnacle of access that midlife offers. It is the nectar realized from years of gaining knowledge, experience and wisdom and then choosing how you want to pay it forward or pay it back. In contrast to service that “earns” worthiness through completing assignments, service comes from an internally nurtured space of abundance.
This is reinvention at its finest. When you fully understand who you are, what you want, and how you will collaborate with an abundant universe to serve others, it activates a trifecta for a youthful and vital mid-life experience. Midlife is beautiful and worth celebrating and it is made for reinvention. Embrace the change and create your best life yet.