Mid-life Crisis

[Longhorned]

Is that what this is? Have you had one? Plan on having one?

[Daryl Zero]

I've heard its worse than just starting a new thread.

[UAEebs86]

What's the definition of mid-life?

I think I blew right by mine. No sports car or second wife. Thanks to lucky genetics I haven't needed to color my hair or visit the Hair Club for Men.

Too late now I suppose. Maybe I'll have a late-life crisis to make up for it at some point.

[Longhorned]

I don't know, I'm 46, so past mid-life by some accounts. Maybe just a crisis of too much fucking Fighting Illini takes its toll.

[ASUHATER!]

If you go purely on life expectancy then your mid life crisis should happen somewhere between age 25-50

[Longhorned]

If you go purely on life expectancy then your mid life crisis should happen somewhere between age 25-50

I've had more than one mid-life crisis since I was 25, so maybe I'll die multiple times.

[Puerco]

I had mine already.

[gumby]

Had one, but it was imposed. Taught me not to sweat the small stuff, except for recruiting.

[Daryl Zero]

I'm planning a mid-death crisis.

[azgreg]

I had my mid life crises when I was 18.

[pc in NM]

I got mine out of the way from 1969 through 1975...

... rocking chair memories, now!

[CalStateTempe]

I think I’m having mine.

Nothing crazy, family’s good, jobs good, just shifting lately, the way I think about a ton of things, based on some experiences the last 3-6mo

It’s all good. And interesting…and good.

[CatsbyAZ]

I’ve come to think of the midlife crisis as the rocky process of realizing that life is half over. God willing, about half over. Maybe it takes turning forty to internalize this? An age when even the most generous self-assessment must admit that youth is gone and there’s more of the past to dwell in than the future. Almost nothing achieved in your twenties is impressive to achieve past your thirties. Owning a house at twenty-five? Impressive! By forty who cares—it’s dismissively expected. Graduating law school at 25? By forty there’s no such thing as being “smart for your age” or “ahead of the game.” You might instead be fortunate to hear: “you look good for your age.” In what context would forty be considered “young?” A judge? Billionaire? Osteoporosis?

[pc in NM]

My counterculture lifestyle in my 20's and halfway through my 30's rendered the idea of a midlife crisis obsolete...

Sex, drugs, rock-and-roll, advanced degrees, professional career and great friendships were self-rewarding enough, that measuring oneself against others' standards, or societal mores never occurred to me.

And, IMNSHO, 40 was hardly a big deal when I crossed that threshold. Honest to God, the only decade threshold that was disorienting for me was 70, as I had never even imagined that one beforehand, and only then felt like a stranger-in-a-strange land...

[CatsbyAZ]

Part of realizing life is half over (or practically half over) is letting go of longstanding expectations that didn’t result as hoped by the time you turn thirty or forty. Marriage, children, career, home ownership, strong health, stable finances, capitalized opportunities - however you expected life to work out. And looking ahead to hopefully still achieve those missing expectations into your forties is not only a lot more unlikely but looking back at your twenties and thirties in light of not meeting those expectations, those adult decades can retroactively feel like an unaccomplished life. It’s all part of the scaling back individuals must internally work out. It’s never an immediate reset; it can take several years to quietly acclimate yourself to a manageable disappointment that at times, before adjusting, can flare into bouts of painful regret and sadness. As warned, it’s a rocky process.

[dovecanyoncat]

Managing attachment is tricky. Attachment forms engagement and engagement founds meaning. Desire seems to initiate the process, but wanting is free and delivery is dear, and that brings us back to attachment and the potential for loss.

[Chicat]

I think my mid-life crisis is realizing I’m a super boring person. I don’t want a sports car or a motorcycle or to fuck some young bimbo.

Shouldn’t I be freaking out about my impending demise and how I’ll never again touch a firm young titty that I haven’t given a stripper a 20 for?

[EastCoastCat]

I've thought about this a lot and while there are a few things I wish I could of done differently when I was younger I also think about the amazing things I've done in my life:
- met a President
- beat Johnny Carson in tennis
- ran with the Bulls in Pamplona Spain
- backpacked around Europe
- attended the best school for me - UofA! and met lifelong friends (and stole a goal post that's still on 2nd & Cherry)
- shagged balls for Kareem while he was practicing his skyhook
- lived in NYC as a bachelor for 10 years (need another page for THOSE stories)
- got married to someone who would put up with my shit
- have 2 great kids
- had 2 great parents
- saved a guy's life who was choking in a restaurant

I could go on, but my point being if I got hit by a truck today (or snow plow considering the storm we had) it really hasn't been that bad a life and I really don't have that many regrets.

ECC has been a lucky man all things considered...

[pc in NM]