The sneaky midlife crisis

      Midlife crisis! Not a phrase I heard growing up in India. But then again, when you're in your teens and early 20's, you consider people in their 30's and 40's to be old, not in their midlife. We would ruthlessly call any married friends aunties and uncles; didn't matter that they were our classmates or just a few years older. Anyway, back to the middling phrase "midlife crisis".

    The general public and media would have you believe that any person that suddenly buys a shiny red convertible car, or quits their high-paying job to pursue a passion like opening a food truck, or upends their current lifestyle in any way, shape or form must be going through a midlife crisis. I'm not a fan of the  word crisis - which would make you think there's something wrong with that particular stage of life. After having worked for many years, shouldering responsibilities of work and family, it is natural to feel like you're stuck in a rut. Especially if you have kids, raising them and keeping up with their myriad activities means your personal goals and interests take a backseat. By the time the kids get into their teens and become independent, it's natural to feel like you want to do something for yourself. Some people do go to extremes in trying to break the monotony. In reality though, for most of us, midlife sneaks up without making any splash. There is no magic number that signifies that you've entered midlife. Just because you haven't had the urge to buy a convertible car or motorcycle, don't think you've escaped midlife and will go straight from young to old :-) 

     If you find yourself enjoying all the comforts of latest technology, yet yearn for the simplicity of your childhood without any devices, know that midlife has snuck up on you. Or if you start telling your kids about how you used to do something when you were their age or how you grew up without all the comforts they take for granted, and they roll their eyes and say it's only the millionth time they're hearing this, take the cue that it's midlife catching up to you.

    Whether you realize midlife has snuck up on you or not, do not think of it as a crisis. Instead, think of it as a perfectly symmetrical point in your life - where with the wisdom of years -you can look at people to the left of that point and tell yourself "been there, done that" and you look at people to the right of that point and tell yourself "I can be that or not".  If there are hobbies you couldn't pursue earlier because you didn't have the time or means, go ahead and get working on those - age is just a number. And if you did want to buy a red convertible car and didn't because you couldn't afford it then or because it'd be impractical with kids, please - by all means - splurge on it. People can call it a midlife crisis all they want, but you can drive with the wind in your hair and the stereo blasting Taylor Swift's song: 

Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (hoo-hoo-hoo)