Sooner or later, if you live long enough, you go through midlife . . . usually kicking and screaming. As much as we loathe the concept, we must nevertheless endure it. If your body is crumbling like the Berlin Wall, you’re bored with any- and everything that you used to find joy in, you’re perpetually confused over simple things or you become freakishly angry for people just because they look at you, you my friend are in midlife. Lucky you. If you’ve been through the rough and tumble world of midlfe and came out on the other end smiling (albeit toothless…), congratulations. Even luckier you.

Everyone has an opinion on midlife. You love it. You hate it. You could care less. It makes you smile. It makes you hurl. It makes you smile, then hurl.

Yes, your viewpoint is valid. It represents how you feel. However, sometimes it’s good to hear another person’s thoughts on midlife — I mean, really get a fresh, perhaps contrasting, perspective from someone other than the person staring back at you in the mirror. Do they find it as annoying as you do? Are they staring down midlife through rose-colored bifocals? Can the sage words that they impart change your perspective?

It’s time to treat midlife not as a starting point of debilitating crisis but as an empowering transition — a metamorphosis, if you will…like the Monarch butterfly (which, by the way, I am completely terrified of…).

In the meantime, read what other Midlife-A-Go-Go readers have to say about the good, the bad and the ugly of midlife.

The Best and Worst of Midlife

“Glasses! I’ve been wearing glasses for reading and the computer since college but now that I’ve hit 47, I can’t go without them. Menus? Text messages? Forget about it. I feel so young inside but when I see commercials for the new Apple watch and my first thought is “how would I ever see it??” I know mid-life has me by the horns!

When I find myself feeling sorry for myself and bemoaning the situation I remind myself how lucky I am that glasses even exist – can you imagine if you couldn’t see and there was nothing to do about it?”

Tara
Pivot to Happy

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“I can bounce and get back up prepared for another hit, really fast. I’ve always thought of myself as resilient – you have to be when you are self-employed. But when I was younger, the hits seemed to pack a more powerful punch, knocking me off my feet for days. I used to “take to my bed” like a heroine in a romance novel and stay there for 48 hours to recover. These days, I may still allow myself a good cry. I may still take myself to bed – there’s no better remedy for life’s suck moments than pulling the covers over your head – but, after 12 hours I’m ready to deal with the situation and move on. Time’s a wasting.”

Elana
Stilletos @60

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“Still Dancing

I love to dance when I’m just the right amount of drunk, just after the second glass of wine. No longer can I dance for 4 hours straight like I did, but a certain song comes on and it’s as if I’m propelled to the dance floor.

Seeing a cook from the club the next morning, he said, “Mrs Brown! I saw you last night. I saw you dance. I went home and I told my wife, “We must change our life, we must have more fun. We will dance more!”

The ripple effect of a simple passion, to dance.”

Linda
TLC Writing Retreats

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“Midlife is when…

you go for a physical and realize you must now pay someone to look at you naked. 

you start repeating yourself… and your chins follow suit.

you no longer have upper arms, but rather a wingspan.

you get a mammogram and brag that you appeared topless in film.

Oh, but, seriously, the good news about midlife is that the glass is still half full. Of course, it may not be long before your teeth are floating in it. I plan to keep smiling either way!”

Lee
Lee Gaitan

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“The good thing about midlife? Actually I would consider it the great thing…I really feel like I have arrived. I do what I want, when I want and how I want…within reason and, of course, within the law 😉

The bad thing about midlife? A glass of wine suddenly means you gain 5 pounds! Seriously?

The ugly? Well, being told by your doctor that your va-jay-jay isn’t what it used to be.”

Beth
Beth Blacker… Call Me Crazy

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“This haiku is from a piece I did on learning to say no – which is one of the absolute best things about getting older, IMO!

Saying no was hard
when their feelings mattered more
than mine. Now I count.”

Roxanne
Booker Haiku

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“So the good is that we now have tech that makes it all easier.  e.g. I just got multifocus contact lenses that lets me see far and near at the same time – no need for granny glasses!  

A bad is you have more time for Facebook, which gives you credible evidence that most of the public are basically morons.

Let’s not forget the big gift on your 50th birthday is someone putting a camera up your butt.”

Stafford
Magik Laboratory

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“it is more than time

yes,
i have found peace,
for every one of us fails,
every one of us makes mistakes.
I almost let my old self get lost,
in confusion
and turmoil,
but no more.
No person can,
nor has the right to change
who we are,
only we can do that.
So i hid for awhile,
but I have stopped hiding.
There should be no fear,
for it is only me that has returned.
i have let go,
i walk free,
Life is here to live.
Let no dark cloud destroy that.”

Joe
Joey K’s Place

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“I’m not really sure what the “age” group for midlife is but I think I am past it. I am a health coach who believes you can age without the any normal symptoms and I prove it every day. I teach people how they can avoid them as well. At 65 I started a new career and am busier than I ever thought possible. You don’t have to limit yourself.”

Carol
Battered Hope

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“The worst thing for me about midlife has been going from feeling relatively healthy to feeling like every move I make is accompanied with mystery aches and pains. Back in the day, I played b-ball and ran track and I never hurt like I do now. Kind of makes me feel like I’m slowly wasting away. That’s the ugly. The good is discovering that after all these years, I still got game. Didn’t think I had it in me. Married for the first time at age 45, and we’re still going strong after 6 years.”

Rodney

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Show some love to your fellow midlifers by checking out their websites (via the links under their names). You can also share your thoughts – the good, the bad and the ugly – on midlife by sending in your own submissions.

To get started, click here → SUBMIT