Mid-life - second part of life.

This is an area I am particularly interested in in my work, for both men and women, the crisis that comes with the second part of life which is like a rebirth, an opportunity to reinvent oneself but also a highly anxiety evoking time when we become acutely aware of time and the end. This time can be anytime, it can be in the 30s and it can be in the 70s and anything in between, it can be triggered by lif

e events, losses, changes, for women menopause which again can be even in the 30s. I think about the scripts we are following unconsciously and the depression and anxiety that can set in, particularly in mid life when we realise we are not where we wanted or imagined we would be and the story we are living out is not the one we want and is not heading for a happy ending. Changing the story is not about finding success, it’s about living a good life whatever this means to us so we can reach that final developmental stage of ‘integrity vs despair’ with integrity and wisdom rather than regret and turmoil. If we don’t change direction we will end up where we are going which is the script payoff of any story we are living out, a banal or a losing script or a winning script. For women in particular, I look at women in the Greek culture and the British culture and wonder what are the stories and scenarios of mid life that feel and seem like a meaningful place to be, a time when women will feel purposeful and valued, and what happens when this doesn’t entail grandchildren or a big career? Or what happens when the grandchildren and the big careers also don’t hit the spot of a life well lived? With the global ageing population crisis, this question becomes more and more pertinent, we need new stories and new scenarios and flexibility in thinking and approaching mid-life, the second part of life in a creative way, not being rushed by time, ostracised by society and panicked into despair but as an opportunity to examine our values and look for new winning scripts that will put people in the driving seat of their lives and help them feel hopeful and even excited. Not just through grand heroic stories of individualistic success but through community and relationships. The existential issues of meaningless and isolation are heavily weighing in this time.