Your mid-life crisis

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I like my silver strands of hair and plan to keep them.

Ha! Just wait 'til those strands become swatches.
(But seriously, you could just hold at 39 like Jack Benny did. )

 

[Hondo]

I think I know how some of you feel, I don’t know if you could say its “Mid Life Crisis” I might replace "crisis" with “cross roads” go from there.
At 38 I lost my partner (we were not married) of 15 yrs to alcohol and since then now at 54 I’ve had on and off again flings, nothing like my partner. the years have taken its toll, you all know that. It’s weird to explain I seem to have fallen into the past, like film noir. I feel I’m not young but not that old. It’s tough call some times, especially without children, probably better off in the long run, but I like kids just couldn’t raise one in this crazy world. Maybe there’s a gal out there to rescue me. Where are the women like Greer Garson, Barbara Stanwyck, or Myrna Loy? well the search continues.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Ha! Just wait 'til those strands become swatches.
(But seriously, you could just hold at 39 like Jack Benny did. )

I'll do as my grandmothers would say: "21 plus."

As for swatches of silver, I hope they come soon. Most people of importance have silver hair. I first learned that long ago by reading Dilbert and discovered that, in fact, it's true. I'll opt for power over beauty in the coming years.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Well, I'm 46 and have the "distinguished" greying at the temples. I've never been married, no kids, and maybe my hat collection is my "mid-life crisis."

I was born in 1961, so if I live to be 80, I'll have lived exactly half my life in the 20th and 21st centuries. Then again, I didn't see Halley's Comet last time by, so I hope to see it in 2061.

 

[Gideon Ashe]

Oh Damn! Missed the mid life crisis.

I'm too late for the mid-life crisis.
I hit the 70 mark.
At 17 I went into the military. Traveled to exciting places and met interesting people.
grew up a lot. At 27 I was out and circumstances got me working for one day as a mechanic for an airline. They went on strike and I applied for the local police. I nailed the civil service exam and BAM!!! (like the inarticulate cook on TV says) I was a Cop. A little luck and some dilligence got me a lovely wife and a couple of promotions, including Detective.
ka-POW!!! Some more luck and a little more dilligence got me noticed by the Feds, and recruited, at 34.
BOING!!!
Promotions and assignments some MORE dilligence and luck(not all good) got me hurt, and in college for the first time at 40. What a bunch of schmucks I had to hang around with there. Pulling a 4.0 was easy. Having to listen to all of that Kumbayah socialist bullcrap was intolerable. I kissed them off and left. Glad I did.
There was nothing to learn from them I could not teach myself. Can you say auto-didact?

More promotions based mostly on dilligence, attention to detail and luck. (hurt again) Back to work keeping America safe from the Evil Empire and the Axis of Evil, and those who would subjugate us with their nefarious deeds.
And finally at last. Time was up and it was: "Johnny, tell our contestant what he has won!"
Whatever you do, there is no crisis; IF you have a little luck and a LOT of dilligence. Just dont NOT enjoy your time here. You are going to be dead a very long time.lol lol lol

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Then again, I didn't see Halley's Comet last time by, so I hope to see it in 2061.

Ya didn't miss anything, it was a flop. :eusa_doh: Hope next time is better.

 

[$ally]

I like my silver strands of hair and plan to keep them.

Good girl. I'm glad you aren't flipping over it like I did. Hopefully mine will go snow white and wavy like my Mothers.

 

[Paisley]

Enjoy Yourself!

This reminds me of an old song:

Enjoy yourself while you're still in the pink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself
It's later than you think.

You work and work for years and years
You're always on the go
Never take a minute off
To busy makin' dough
Some day, you say, you'll have your fun
When you're a millionaire
Imagine all the fun you'll have
In your old rockin' chair

Enjoy yourself it's later than you think
Enjoy yourself while you're still in the pink
The years go by as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself
It's later than you think.
(Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself it's later than you think)

Your heart of hearts, your dream of dreams
Your ravishing brunettes
Has left you now and she's become
Somebody else's pet (pity isn't it)
Lay down that gun, don't try my friend
To reach the great beyond
You'll have more fun by reaching
For a red-head or a blonde

Enjoy yourself it's later than you think
Enjoy yourself while you're still in the pink
The years go by as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself
It's later than you think.
(Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself it's later than you think)

(Spoken)
There's another thing I want to tell you too.

(Sung)
You love somebody very much
You'd like to set the date
But money doesn't grow on trees
So you decide to wait (Foolish Fellow)
You're so afraid that you will bite off
More than you can chew
Don't be afraid, you won't have teeth
When you reach ninety two.

Enjoy yourself it's later than you think
Enjoy yourself while you're still in the pink
The years go by as quickly as a wink
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy yourself
It's later than you think.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy yourself it's later than you think

 

[Edward]

LadyDeWinter is absolutely right. Technically, "midlife" begins at age sixty, as our maximum lifespan is Biblically set at 120.

? I remembered it as "threescore and ten" - i.e. 70....[huh] or if we're lucky, fourscore. Once my grandmother hit 80, she used to have this running joke about being on borrowed time- she made it to 86, though, and would probably have lasted longer but for the cancer.

In a sense, I think that part's been relatively easy for me because I've been openly gay since my early 20s and there's never been the same expectation that I would go on to have kids and a "quiet, suburban life". Discussing this with straight friends, they seem to have to wrangle with the "when are you going to settle down and start a family?" stuff to a much greater extent than I do.

Easier in some senses, though I imagine if where you grew up was anything like what I know gay friends faced (still do) in Northern Ireland, it sure must have been tough in other ways! I do still get the periodic "so when are you gonig to get married?" crap from family on a semi-regular basis. Over there among folks my parents' age, it's definitely considered not normal to still be single by your thirties. I guess the assumption is that marriage / relationship is the default position, and anyone who doesn't have that must be dreadfully unfilfulled and unhappy as a result. Which I find kinda offensive, to be honest, but that's another matter. For the most part it's only my mother that remarks on it at times, though Dad also has this paranoid delusion that on my own one day I'll be lying ill for a week and not able to get to a phone to tell anyone... Ha. It gets mentioned a little more frequently at the minute cause I've got a rash of friends getting married. Pain the bum, but what can you do. :eusa_doh:

 

[Gilbey]

I am 43 now and my gray hairs are now more evident than ever. But I love it! I don't plan to dye my hair because I'm proud of my age. I don't want to look young by altering my features. I just like being myself just the way it is. I think I will grow old gracefully. I still have a baby face though at 43 since I've often been mistaken in my late twenties. I hardly have any facial hairs (I'm not a hairy man at all). I only shave once a week

But for a crisis, I may have already passed it at 36 when I finally decided to have kids. I was kinda debating at first if I was gonna have them or not. I was concerned with the changing times of our world if it's really conducive to raise an ideal kid. But my wife has been insisting on having them. Must be that motherly instinct of hers. I was just procrastinating just to wait and see. I wanted to pay off everything first and get that house before deciding (if I ever decided). Finally the year 2000 came and it finally dawned on me that this is the new millenium and I'm not getting any younger. I was 36 already! Who's gonna visit Daddy in his old age? That thought really struck me. So after 13 years of waiting, I finally decided to have one ... our "millenium baby" as we called her. Boy was she a beauty! I've never regretted it. You'll never know what you've missed till you have one! Two years later, we had another one. They're the pride and joy of my life!

On other things, let's see... I bought an '80 Corvette which was a money pit, Swiss watches galore, and now I'm suddenly plunged into vintage stuffs. Must be an age thing. That's probably why the Fedora Lounge comes in handy.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

? I remembered it as "threescore and ten" - i.e. 70....[huh] or if we're lucky, fourscore.

I think that's just the average. See Genesis, 6:3.
Interesting in light of the fact that a few people do actually approach that age, but never exceed it.

 

[Ecuador Jim]

The incomparable Willie Mays....

..made it short and sweet, "Age is a question of mind over matter; if you don't mind, it don't matter."

Enjoy your 40's. You're old enough to have wisdom, and young enough to act on it!

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Crisis?

I'm still waiting for the big thrill I was supposed to experience, when I turned eighteen. [huh]

 

[carter]

Mine came two years early and it came in three events.
Now I don't worry about what happens ten days from now. [/SIZE]

 

[scotrace]

Crisis?

I'm still waiting for the big thrill I was supposed to experience, when I turned eighteen. [huh]

Ha! lol lol


If I were eighteen again, I'd know what the hell to do with eighteen, boyo.

 

[Harp]

So, if you are 40 or over, did you have some kind of existential dilemma... What did you do if you care to share? Any suggestion for a glamorous crisis?

Mine began with a woman, a friend married to a louse who
repeatedly cheated on her; causing her much anguish-and I heard
the whisper voice of conscience warning that I was falling in love.
Forgetting the Homeric aphorism that Aphrodite robs the wits
of the wise, so'er prudent, I did just that.
Then there was a regime change during the Bush administration-
I was then in federal law enforcement- an executioner's list was drawn.
I had made a few enemies and old scores apparently remained to be
settled and my friends could no longer offer protection. I would be
cashiered and blackballed.
The lady turned me down. Because of my military record I was
allowed to resign-but I was blacklisted. Tried to arrange a transfer to Europe
or even Iraq-all doors were closed. Time heals all wounds-
well most, and I had to acknowledge that I brought most of it upon
myself. Aeschylus was correct in remarking, by our own hand
are we now smitten. Still, for all of it, my crisis was a turning point,
a blessing in disguise.

 

[Oldsarge]

When I turned 50 I gave myself an Africa safari as a birthday present. That may have been a mistake. They're expensive . . . and addictive!

 

[Gregg Axley]

I fell apart before I made it to 40.
Oh well, that's life.
My midlife crisis? Wanting to change jobs because my age is finally catching up with my seniority and education, where I work that's important.
LSS, almost had that change but it didn't quite work out.
Crisis? Not really, that agency is almost dead broke now, the news of it just hadn't come out until a few months after "things didn't work out."
I have everything I NEED, not everything I want. Almost all the bills are paid off, I have a wife that loves me despite my faults, and 2 dogs that I dearly love (just ask my wife, I'm accused of loving my dogs more than her! LOL).
Oh sure, I'd love some of my old cars back, especially a 90 Miata and a 76 Vette.
Out of 15 cars I've owned, those were my 2 favorites, outside the Essex Streetrod I've had for over 20 years.
I even dream about them on occasion, really weird.
Now I have the money to put gas in the Vette, and a 302 v-8 in the Miata!
Just don't have anywhere to keep it all...maybe that's my midlife crisis.

 

[scooter]

I am 57 now, and my hair is thinner and my waistline is thicker than they have ever been. I am retired from everything that defined me for so many years (Marines, soccer and wrestling referee),nor can I perform the athletic feats of days of yore; but somehow, I am more content and like myself more than I EVER have. I cannot explain it except to say, if we are fortunate, we live long enough to appreciate what we have and not to pine for what we do not have.

 

[Miss Moonlight]

I am having a ...something. It's a crisis but not spawned by the fact that I'm 41. I just have a lot more at stake now. I had my only (very unexpected, as I was told it would probably never happen) child when I was 39, so I had a lot of fun and travel already. Now... I'm in a situation, not because of my daughter but because of other things, where things really can only go uphill from here.

I'm working toward some financial stability. When I get there I think I'll buy fingerpaints. For me and my daughter.

Also, I'm not convinced I've hit midlife yet.