Midlife Mastery Journal

Midlife can be a scary time for anyone. Life-altering changes are frequent and unexpected and often disorienting. How can you prepare for it? More importantly, how can you deal with it when it comes. It IS all a question of “mind over matter” but just telling yourself to “get over it” won’t work. What will?

So long as we’re stuck in the ‘me-centered’ universe of adulthood, challenges and adversity will continue to appear to us to be focused on us (because that’s where our unconscious focus lies, and that’s the perspective from which we view everything that happens around us).

You may still think that, when circumstances change drastically (like they do at midlife), reinventing yourself would seem to be a very wise thing to do. I say ‘seem to be’ because that’s all based on your set of assumptions. You assume that it’s possible to ‘reinvent’ yourself, and you further assume that you know how to do it.

You may find managing important duties and issues a real ego-boost, but by staying focused on the big deals and neglecting the little facets of your life — in your career, your relationships and your own personal health and well-being — you risk descending into crisis and losing it all. Success in life and love depends entirely on how well you pay attention to the humblest of details.

There are many ways to deal with the onset of emotional pain. Some approaches are more effective than others. There’s one approach that has all the advantages and few of the drawbacks: write it out.