Good News! It seems to me that Reinvention has replaced the old Midlife Crisis.

And that there are some powerful differences between the two, which are all to our benefit, both personally and culturally.

We all know of someone who ‘went through a Midlife Crisis’. Many of us went through them ourselves.

The experience was different for each person, of course, but many of us felt like we were flung unexpectedly and unknowingly into a maelstrom of chaos. Our lives suddenly weren’t working, and we almost didn’t recognize the person we had become.

For a moment, just put yourself in the shoes of someone going through a classic Midlife Crisis.

For a while it is a relief, an exciting new energy, a refreshing change from the routine of your life.

You impulsively try a lot of new and uncharacteristic things, but then you find that only a few of them work. It feels like a frantic time. You are grasping at straws. You feel disoriented and confused, like you have lost your moorings. You don’t know what you want.

You are like a shooting star. There is an initial burst of energy, and then you burn out, often leaving a big mess in your wake, and you now have a lot of clean up to do.

Basically, the old Midlife Crisis had the elements of ‘new’ and ‘exciting’, but it was often missing ‘fulfilling’ and ‘enriching’.

What we really want is all of that: new, exciting, fulfilling, and enriching.

I think many people remember the Midlife Crisis with not a small amount of trepidation. It’s understandable. They either went through it or knew someone who did, and it didn’t feel good. It was messy.

But the question now is: Are you side-stepping the desire to reinvent because you don’t want to find yourself in the middle of a Midlife Crisis?

There are some similarities between the old Midlife Crisis and a Reinvention:
• that feeling of losing your moorings
• the disorientation
• the questions about who you really are, and what you want in your life

But that can be where the similarities end.

Our culture has evolved, and we can choose another way, one that is much more life affirming and fulfilling.

What is different and good about a Reinvention?
• It is a response to a call, deep in oneself, rather than a reaction
• It’s conscious and empowering
• It is energizing, not depleting
• It is a recipe for long-term happiness, not temporary relief

You focus on the journey, not just the destination, and then it becomes a Grand Adventure.

Sounds a lot more compelling, doesn’t it?

That’s why the Reinvention Revolution is here to stay.

START HERE:

• Action: Identify someone you know or you have read about who has reinvented, and notice how his or her reinvention differed from the old Midlife Crisis.
• Insight: How might you be holding yourself back from a reinvention because it felt vaguely like a Midlife Crisis?

Filed under: The Revolution on February 9th, 2007