Am I Having the Opposite of a Mid-Life Crisis?

On a daily basis I find myself thinking how great life is for me right now. At 45 I can say that I am where I always wanted to be. I’m happy where I’m at as a woman, a wife, a mom, a daughter, and a professional. Many people around this age start getting all mid-life crisis-y and the media doesn’t help, always obsessing over youth. I actually feel younger and more energetic now than I did in my 30s, perhaps because my kids are more independent, fun, and can hold interesting conversations. As a matter of fact, I feel like I’m having the opposite of a mid-life crisis. Is that even a thing?
When I turned 45, it dawned on me that I may be exactly at the half point of my life (if genes serve me right, I should live until 90 at least) but that didn’t hamper my mood at all. I’m excited to be where I’m at and looking forward to my second half. After 4 decades in this world, I feel like I’ve been through a lot, I have lived life through its ups and downs and all its glorious moments, and now I feel stronger than ever, more confident and more grateful for all that I have and accomplished.
So this got me thinking, is this mid-life crisis phenomenon and all the assumptions that go with middle age real? Does media play a role in it? Perhaps it’s not about a mid-life crisis but rather bouts of unhappiness that we all experience regardless of age? Does it have to do with being pessimistic and having a negative view towards life, as in looking at your life and thinking, “is this all?” Really?! To me, mid-life crisis seems so exaggerated and ridiculous. Yes, I get that we have less time on this earth, but that’s exactly why we should be grateful for all the experiences we have had, both positive and negative, and enjoy life more, and not dwell on what was or wasn’t.
In my eyes, there is a huge discrepancy on what I’m told and hear about getting older and how I really feel. Having been in the advertising world for 17 years, I clearly see how advertising and media take a role in this by placing so much value on youth and appearance. Society at large, has a belief that our value as women has already peaked and that we are on the decline…well…umm, no! That could not be further from the truth.
So I set out to discover if this was really the case by conducting 200 online surveys among women between the ages of 40-55. Are we really past our prime? And are 40 and 50-something year old women having all these mid-life uncertainties and issues? The results left me astonished and inspired. These women are not going through a mid-life crisis, but they are instead going through a mid-life beginning. I could write a book about it all. But I decided that each finding deserves its own blog post, so I will be creating a series of posts on the topic. Please sign up at Rocking Over 40 and never miss a post or follow our Facebook page to stay tuned to these rousing findings.
In the meantime, forget all about that mumbo jumbo that is mid-life crisis because you could be 10 or 20 and be in mid-life and not even know it. The point is, wherever you are in life –  THESE are the days of your life, right now – live them passionately!