Before you know it, you’ve hit “Mid Life” with a wardrobe big enough to stock a whole department store. Fully stocked with items that still have their tags on since the 90’s because you’re too frugal to throw anything away and now all it represents are the remnants of your savings plan you always committed to start!
What the hell happened! Where did all the time go? Worse still, why is my body turning to shit all of a sudden and holding me hostage?
Mid Life has however, provided me with a lot of clarity on many things, mostly about who I am and accepting who I am, what I want and don’t want, what I will tolerate, who I want to be around, what gives me energy and so much more. It continues to be a time for me of choosing peace over drama, creating wealth in other ways other than just the 9-5 grind, choosing carefully how I spend my free time and truly embracing life as it occurs.
The glaringly irritating part of all of this is I wish I could have been this person 20 years ago!
Mid Life’s best gift has to be the Menopause or should I say the perfect time to put “Men on Pause”! For me, absolutely. They are exhausting and take up a lot of space in the house and in the head. What with everything going on physically and mentally I can easily do without the added stress of keeping up appearances and being nice when I actually just want to stab someone!
A friend pointed out recently, it’s not a man you need it’s a maid! She was so bloody right. So, best I pause and buy myself a budgie and a maid! One to talk to without the back chat and one to do the ironing.
The inevitable pit stop on the journey of womanhood that no one really warns you about until you’re knee-deep in it. Suddenly, your body goes through a whole evolution that you are not prepared for or desired. It appears my ability to drop a few kilos in a week has shrivelled up and f’ed off, and my new superpower is to seek out the kilos and drop them straight onto my ass without any effort!
That small little shift in hormones renders your brain incapable of straight forward thinking. No longer can you get from A to Z, now its a road trip of dark alleys and deserts!
I bow down to the genius’s who created HRT…. I salute you for “keeping the crazy away”.
For many, mid life is a time we all hope to have paid off the mortgage and finally worked out how to live within our means instead of maxing out credit cards. The desire for “more”, has begun its decline and now all I think about is how to make my world smaller…. I’ve had my fair share of financial ups and downs, but never to the point of risking the stability that I’ve worked hard to establish.
There is one thing in my life that I’ve always focused on and that’s to never expect anyone to be financially responsible for me. For someone to do that for me, they would have to tick A LOT of boxes before I succumbed to their offerings! I’m mentally wired to never become a dependent as my independence continues to provide my peace.
Financial planning should be at the top of everyone’s priorities as we walk through life. As I arrived at midlife my finances were not in bad shape, but if I wanted my retirement plans to fall into place I could see that I still needed to figure out other avenues of wealth that would enable it. These days even a private pension will not provide sufficiently, never mind any government support. But, let’s face it, I have to reach the ripe of age of 68 to be eligible for my state pension right now. Shameful.
This little Edit of Mid Life is one of both pride and sadness all at the same time. There is no better feeling than seeing your child fly the nest and thrive out in the world. All the hard work you put in is paying off and it’s a wonderful feeling. For me, it allowed me to experience a whole new type of freedom of being completely on my own, with only myself to consider and look after.
It’s difficult to describe the weight that lifts when your child becomes an accountable adult. For them, it’s just the beginning of adulting, and of course I keep a close eye on what’s occurring, but seldom do I need to step it. Gone are the days when I’d worry about the house being burned down!
The freedom to plan a future for yourself, do whatever and go wherever you want has been transformative. There are pros and cons of single life and it takes a while to adjust to being single if you’ve always been the other half of something. However, I’ve never felt so free as I do now, and the possibilities and experiences are endless.
I’m learning new skills that generate passive income and supports my work life balance. I’d never have thought that I’d be diving into the digital world in my fifties, yet here I am smashing it! My excitement about the future continues to drive me forward in ways that I never thought possible.
Mid Life…? It’s only just beginning! I’ve done the hard miles and even though there may be so much things going on, I don’t allow myself to disappear into the crowd. I’m not travelling down the tunnel seeking out the light, I’m switching that bad boy on myself! I’m just too impatient!
Keep leaning into life and remember, it’s not a rehearsal. This is it…..