Midlife crisis or the best years of my life?

Are we there yet?

There is no one way to determine if we are in midlife, nor is there one universal age that determines midlife. For many women a subtle shift can be occurring long before they make a concrete connection to a change or a physical sign such as a hot flash shows up. We may feel a restlessness or discontent. We have an unnamed longing for something "more". We may feel a need to explore our spirituality in a deeper way then ever before. We may experience the same kinds of mood swings and irritability we did as we approached adolescence. Often this upheaval in emotions is caused in part by hormones and in part by your soul calling out to you.

Sometimes a life changing event happens such as a divorce, a job downsizing or a health crisis with our self, a spouse, or a parent and we are stopped in our tracks and forced to reevaluate where we are and where we want to be. This can be known as the wake up call. Midlife happens and there is no avoiding it. With this knowledge we have the freedom to decide what our experience will be whether positive or negative.

For me the blossoming began long before I consciously knew I was in midlife and I only have to look at my book shelves for proof. What I chose to read and what I longed to read began changing along with the vague discontent I was beginning to feel. The journey had begun from looking to the outside to define who I was to looking to the inside for a new and more authentic definition.

If you are experiencing any of the following you have most likely arrived at midlife

• Feeling as though you have lost your focus and direction in life.

• Concerned about changes occurring in your body and menstrual cycle.

• Feeling as though your children no longer need you.

• Feeling a yearning to know more about yourself and your spirituality.

• Experiencing unexplained moodiness and irritability.

• Feeling as though you are becoming the parent to your parents.

• Feeling disconnected romantically with your partner.

• Feeling as though life is flying by and you haven't fulfilled your purpose.

• Feeling as though you need to discover and express the "real" you

So why a midlife makeover?

Midlife is also a time of incredible transition and if we want it, transformation. As with all times of transformation there is often some upheaval and turmoil and it can be felt in every area of our lives. Our relationships, our health, our career, our bodies, our recreation, our spiritual self and our style can all be shifting. We have the opportunity to take what we love about ourselves to keep and makeover the parts that are no longer serving us. Think of it as going on a journey to a new and unknown destination. We pack those things that are foundation pieces, they work in all situations, they are favorites and we love them. To these we add some new items for the journey ahead after we have done our homework and learn about our route we will be taking. We always leave a little room to pick up something new that speaks to our heart as we experience this adventure. If we choose to let go of things on our travels that we discover no longer represent our truest self, we are ready and willing to do so as we begin to blossom into the grandest version of who we really are.

As we create this incredible version of our self we get to join the wonderful qualities we developed in the first half of our life with the new and powerful ones that now define us as we move into the second half. We give our self the permission to let go of what doesn’t work and embrace what makes sense to us now.

Welcome to midlife…..We are going to have some fun.