This week’s Time magazine cover story is about female midlife crisis.
Oh, that’s what this is? That’s what has me all flustered, huh. I thought I was just bored. But it’s interesting to see a lot of my feelings covered in that article. Spiritual crisis, longing for a change of scenery, thinking back on what I gave up to have what I have now and how I can reclaim some of it.
The sad part was that a lot of the women profiled cited divorce as a turning point. So many women are afraid to think about what’s best for themselves, vs what’s expected of them from others. I guess it takes an outside push to get some to move past that. At least I have the benefit of an inside push and the knowledge that I should listen to it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s next. Obviously I still have three boys to raise, and that will continue to be my primary focus. And my husband’s career is what keeps us sheltered and comfortable. So it’s important, to me personally (not necessarily for others) that I keep up my role as home CEO, or whatever you want to call it. Somebody has to keep juggling all five of our lives. I have no regrets about following the less stressful, simpler path, either. I made very conscious choices about how to live my life so we could be comfortable on one income, and live a less crazy existance than some of our neighbors. It’s paid off. Nope, no regrets.
And that leaves me an awful lot of freedom to follow my own path. It’ll have to be a path in central NJ, of course, but I’m sure I’ll find it here somewhere. I’ve already been able to make some decisions (real life interference not withstanding) that will make for a smoother ride, and that alone- making and sticking with decisions- is a major achievement for me (I can see you nodding your head, Patrick.)
Time to move forward.
Something else to look forward to in my 40’s?? I’m okay with my life….altho some days I’d like to ditch the hubby, most days I don’t! There’s nothing I need, but once in awhile, I like new clothes and new hair! Is that a crisis??
Amen, sister! What I’m doing is important and suits our family. I haven’t really felt myself in a mid-life crisis yet. Maybe I’m just a late bloomer. ;-)