I've been reading quite a bit about "midlife crisis" lately. I prefer to think of it as a midlife reality check. A midlife opportunity. Crisis has such negative connotations. It makes sense that everyone is most likely to go through this transition at some point in their life. Generally between the age of 40 and 60 people are cursed by this emotional event. It happens to both sexes, but due to social expectations, men seem to be hardest hit. You know, men are supposed to bring home the bacon, rule the roost, keep a stiff upper lip and all that other crap. Men, we can thank society for that albatross to bear.

We all spend our early years creating who we want to be. As we approach our middle years, we begin to assess how those formative years worked out for us. Some people come closer than others to molding the person they want, but I doubt that anyone feels totally satisfied with the results at the turn. It's hard to accept the fact that you fell short of your own expectations, and more importantly the expectations of others. And, we realize that we more than likely won't meet them this far down the road. "Oh my God, my life is more than half over."

Midlife is a time to re-adjust your sights, and aim at different targets. Ideally targets that you can hit. I believe it's a "real" thing, that we are all going to have to deal with at some point in our lives. It's an opportunity to make use of the past and move positively into the future.

If you're in the early stages of your life, try forward thinking...if that's possible. If you find yourself in the middle years, take your time and think...alot. If you're in the later years of your life and you still smile every day when you roll out of bed...thank God, you figured it out!