Define "Midlife Crisis"

According to Wikipedia:

"MIDLIFE crisis is a term coined in 1965 by Elliott Jaques [(January 18, 1917-March 8, 2003) a Canadian psychoanalyst and organizational psychologist. FYI, he developed the notion of requisite organization.] and used in Western societies to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the “middle years” or middle age of life, as a result of sensing the passing of their own youth and the imminence of their old age. Sometimes a crisis can be triggered by transitions experienced in these years, such as extramarital affairs, andropause [male menopause] or menopause, the death of parents or other causes of grief, unemployment or underemployment, realizing that a job or career is hated but not knowing how else to earn an equivalent living, or children leaving home. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day-to-day life or situation, such as career, work-life balance, marriage, romantic relationships, big-ticket expenditures, or physical appearance.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midlife_crisis
[parentheses mine]

Again, someone writes it better than I would...gotta love plagiarism.

Midlife Crisis

I turned 41 yesterday. And I decided it's time for a midlife crisis.


I finished reading Morgan's Run, by Colleen McCullough, last night. Was reading it for my Lit 'n' Latte reading group. Had read the book when it was first published back in 2001 or so, but didn't really remember much about it, other than I had liked it. Needless to say, in re-reading it, I made myself really pay attention to what I was reading.


Yes, it is a historical fiction book, but what I really pulled from it this time has come to mean more to me than I could imagine. The author, Colleen McCullough, writes it best:


     "Yet somehow we have survived the first five years of this ill-conceived, misshapen experiment in men's and women's lives. I am not sure how this has happened, except that it is perhaps evidence of the persistence and perseverance of men and women. It would be wrong to say that England offered us a second chance here. We were not offered any chance, first or last. Rather, we behaved according to our natures. Some of us simply vowed to survive and, having survived, then hurried 'home' or still skulk about. And some of us, having survived, were determined to being again as best we can with what we have. I put myself in the second group, and say of it that while we were convicts we worked hard, we incurred no official displeasure, we were not lashed or ironed, we effaced ourselves in some situations and made ourselves useful in others...


     It is fair to say that very few of us had any idea what sort of stuff we were made of. I know that I did not. The old tranquil, patient Richard Morgan...was passive, content, unambitious and small. His griefs were the griefs of all men -- loss of what he loved. His vices were the vices of all men -- self-absorption and self-indulgence. His joys were the joys of all men -- taking his pleasure in what he loved. His virtues were the virtues of all men -- belief in God and country.


     Richard Morgan was resurrected in the midst of a sea of pain, and finds the pain of others more unbearable than his own. He takes nothing for granted, he speaks out when necessary, he guards his loved ones and his fortune with his very life, he trusts hardly anybody, and he relies on one person only -- himself...


     By the grace of God and the kindness of others, I have had a fine run."


I may not be a convict of England, but I have found I have been living my life as a convict of the world. My midlife crisis is leading me away from the world and more toward what God has in store for me.


I want to be more like the "resurrected" Richard Morgan. I want to have a fine run.


P.S. My maiden name is Morgan. And I will begin to run.