Mid Life Crisis, just what is it?

Paul Watson

Tim Smith wrote: your goals of youth What were some of yours? regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and to be loved in return - Moulin Rouge Tim Smith wrote: Over here in the third world of humor (a.k.a. BBC America), peterchen wrote: We should petition microsoft to a "target=_Paul" attribute.

stupration

I know how I want to spend my youth(the same way I've been spending it): AT HOME, where I don't have to do the 9 to 5 for 40+ years, then retire and be too old to enjoy the free time. I think I should devise a get-uber-rich really really really quick scheme so my dream of enternal slacking can be realized. btw, a mid-life crisis to me is simply this: regret...regretting how you've spent/wasted your life and doing something out of the ordinary to change it.

Brit

That's odd if it is true. I am 22 and answered all those questions when I was 18 (except the "where did my youth go" bit of course.) But, imagine now that you come to grips with your own mortality and you're aging. Suddenly it doesn't seem so attractive to spend your days slaving away for "a better tomorrow" which consists of a management position. And, while you might've looked at those questions before, you haven't done so in a long time or done anything about it except ponder the question. Do you reckon a mid-life crisis is inextricably linked to the modern rat-race, corporate ladder climbing, 9-5 for 40-years lifestyle? Yes. But, it's more than that. It's about keeping your nose to the grindstone and not looking up at the world around you for too long -- which can happen in other professions as well (for example, entrepreneurs are susceptible to the same thing because they tend to work obsessively). I think if you continually answer those questions (but don't just answer them, but act on it), avoid running after goals (like climbing the corporate ladder) that will one day seem meaningless (or at least less meaningful), live as if "this day IS your life", and avoid getting your life stuck in a rut, you can avoid a midlife crisis. Unfortunately, it is easy to get stuck in the rut of "accomplishing one more thing" at work. No one on their deathbed ever said, "I wish I would've finished that report at work." People who have live decades of their lives to "finish that report" end up in midlife crisis. (I'll get back to you in twenty years and tell you if that's really the best way to avoid a midlife crisis.)

Michael P Butler

Paul Watson wrote: your goals of youth What were some of yours? Well I always wanted to write software and own my own software company. I've done both of those and it just doesn't seem to be all that fun. Neither are as interesting or enjoyable as I imagined when I was younger. Michael :-) "Eureka" is Greek for "This bath is too hot"

Cathy

to be a beach bum. It has gone unfulfilled. Sometimes when Rodney pisses me off I fantasize. :) Cathy Life's uncertain, have dessert first!

Lost User

I had one when I realised that I had reached the goals of my youth and didn't know what to do next. Kevin

ColinDavies

Kevin Glover wrote: I had one when I realised that I had reached the goals of my youth and didn't know what to do next. Very similar for me, at about age 28. Regardz Colin J Davies

Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin

More about me :-)

Steve T

I think I'm having a mid-life crisis; I'm nearly fifty and I've wasted my life searching for excitement: moving to different countries a number of times and changing careers on a whim, climbing mountains, kitesurfing, snowboarding ... dating younger girls and experimenting with psychadelic drugs and alternative sexual lifestyles, pioneering hanggliding and paragliding... Now I'm wondering was it all worthwhile ... wishing I was married with a couple of kids, a nice nine-to-five job and a retirement plan ... ;-) Steve T.

Christian Graus

Paul Watson wrote: Mid Life Crisis, just what is it? Let me explain. I turned 30. It was totally unexpected. How is this possible ? Well, I lost count of how old I was. My wife told me I was thirty soon, in order to tease me about it, and I thought she was lying. When you're in your 20's, you just stopped being a teenager, but 30 is a *grown-up*. I became VERY depressed. I don't know why really. I have a great life, a happy marriage, one wonderful child ( at the time, now there are two ), etc. But I was a sales rep. Young sales reps are dynamic individuals who get things done and drive around in company cars. Old sales reps are bitter and cynical. Plus, what does a sales rep achieve in life ? All they do is stand in the chain of supply and feed off it. So I started teaching myself programming. A lot. Within six months I learned enough C++ to score a programming job outside my work hours, and within six months of that, I quit being a sales rep and moved into the office. So I guess that to me a midlife crisis is the same as seeing the numbers churn over and realising you need to re-evaluate if you're headed where you want to go, and a chance to do something about it. My wife tells me she thought about leaving when it was all happening because I was depressed, despondent and difficult to live with, but while I remember being depressed, I mostly remember just feeling like I was not filling my potential in life, and wanting to do something about it. Christian I am completely intolerant of stupidity. Stupidity is, of course, anything that doesn't conform to my way of thinking. - Jamie Hale - 29/05/2002 Half the reason people switch away from VB is to find out what actually goes on.. and then like me they find out that they weren't quite as good as they thought - they've been nannied. - Alex, 13 June 2002

Christian Graus

Paul Watson wrote: Tim Smith wrote: your goals of youth What were some of yours? To be a fireman, an archeologist or Luke Skywalker. Christian I am completely intolerant of stupidity. Stupidity is, of course, anything that doesn't conform to my way of thinking. - Jamie Hale - 29/05/2002 Half the reason people switch away from VB is to find out what actually goes on.. and then like me they find out that they weren't quite as good as they thought - they've been nannied. - Alex, 13 June 2002