Find Exhilaration in Middle Years

By PAULA WELLNITZ

I always wondered why they called 40-50 years of age “middle age” since all the people I knew who died when I was in my teens and 20s died about 25-30 years later, not 40 or 50 years later. Today the word is more true as people live so much longer.
It is still usually the time for parents of that age when most of their children are grown enough to begin becoming independent and plan what to do in their lives and when to leave home. Many parents, who have invested so much interest and energy in their children, may begin to feel useless. They wonder what to do with their lives. Some may continue to try to treat their children as youngsters rather that as developing adults.
Some fear and focus on the physical effects and developments of the mid years because they feel tense and uncomfortable thinking about the physical experiences, some use these experiences as an excuse for disagreeable behavior. They make them worse than they are, instead of seeing these changes as one part of their whole development as this particular human being.
Middle age is another time of life one could relate to that of teen age when each individual is called on to make many adaptations to change. Change is never comfortable, even when we want it, because it means something has to end for the new to begin. Often we can’t be sure about the new until we’ve lived it for a while.
Some role changes you may have looked forward to, such as those of grandparent, being parent-in-law. Some of these may not happen. Some you may have known would happen, as, that children would be adults and you would be without children in the home. You must now focus more on being husband and wife. But as it happens you suddenly realize the adjustment it takes.
As with teen age development, there can be something exhilarating about the middle years. And even more so. After all, hopefully, one has taken some time over the years to reflect on one’s life experiences and learned from them to make choices at this time. One can have developed a certain wisdom to recognize what is really important in living. And with more time available one will be more involved in church and civic community to pass that wisdom on.
There can be learnings and activity you want to do because of the above reflections and wisdom to become the best senior person you can be.
What is your experience? Whether you are in that age bracket now or just past it, how are or have you moved through this time of a call to a new better way of being you? How do you relate with other members of your family in doing so?