Midlife Mastery Journal

In our journey to examine how to clean up the wreckage left behind by the poor choices we have made in life, we come to a turning point. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve done wrong and we’ve expressed our sorrow for it. Now comes the hard part: what are you going to do about it?In our journey to examine how to clean up the wreckage left behind by the poor choices we have made in life, we come to a turning point. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve done wrong and we’ve expressed our sorrow for it. Now comes the hard part: what are you going to do about it?

Life provides us with unexpected twists and turns and even false starts and dead ends. Why does life treat us so badly? What are we expected to do with all our wasted time and effort pursuing goals and dreams that never panned out? What sense did it make to have to endure all that suffering for nothing?

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.