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There comes a time when you feel like you're racing against time. Sure, you may have settled down with the ideal partner, bought a nice house, and landed your dream job, but nothing will prepare you for the familiar experience that grapples people as they enter their 30s and 40s. You can never escape from the effects of a midlife crisis, no matter the level of stability you've reached.
Although you can never control the march of time, you can change how you respond to it. Often, we stagnate as a result of overthinking about the future and the fact that we won’t get any younger. But that shouldn’t keep us from living our lives to the fullest. All it takes is changing our mindset and caring for our mental health. Here’s how to do that as you embrace the demands and pressures of mid and late adulthood:
1. Take up a new creative hobby
It may seem like a band-aid solution, but a creative hobby can do more than provide a necessary distraction from overthinking. Not only does it help you tap into your creative potential, but a hobby like song writing or painting can also provide you with an outlet for expressing your innermost thoughts. Especially if you have so much time on your hands, you can use that extra time to explore activities that improve your memory, cognitive performance, and mood.
To figure out which hobby to develop, consider what fascinates you lately or revisit something you always wanted to do while you were younger. The most important thing to remember is to avoid treating your hobby as an extension of work. Instead, treat it as something you want to do. This will take out the pressure that turns a creative activity into work. The sooner you realise this, the deeper your appreciation for the skills you thought you never had.
2. Document your thoughts and observations
Being an adult, you might find it corny to think about keeping a journal. Then again, mental health experts have noted the importance of journaling in the prevention of severe forms of depression and anxiety. In one study published in 2021, journaling can be an effective supplement to psychiatric interventions. This is because keeping a journal can help deal with distress and provide people with the means to make sense of what they’re feeling. These benefits can also be experienced by individuals undergoing a midlife crisis.
It’s difficult to keep up with changes as they occur in your 30s and 40s. By documenting your thoughts on paper as a good habit, you can keep track of these changes and how they’re affecting you emotionally and socially. This seems to slow down time, leaving you with the space to consider your actions and decisions and determine how you should take control of your life. Try it even if you think you’re not a good writer. If you’re being haunted by overthinking, take a few minutes to allow your emotions to flow onto the pages. This will help take the load off of your mind.
3. Get a good support system
At times, a midlife crisis could lead to the development of depression or a general feeling of not keeping up with the times. What many people fail to realise is that a midlife crisis can also provide you with the opportunity to outgrow your present self. All it takes is building a support system composed of friends, family members, professionals, and even pets. You can never underestimate the power of your social circle in helping you crawl out of an emotional hole, so talk to your closest friends and family members about what you're feeling.
For sure, the best they can do is to offer words of encouragement, but such interactions are already enough to give you a sense of hope. When you feel as though the crisis is becoming more severe, seek medical help. You may have to take medication, but there are also other interventions worth checking out, such as getting an emotional support animal. For the latter, be sure to get an ESA letter from establishments like Wellness Wag Georgia, so your furry friend gets accommodated wherever you go.
4. Learn to forgive yourself and move on
There's no shame in experiencing a midlife crisis because every adult, no matter how strong or wise, will go through with it. Overcoming requires making changes in our daily routine, but it largely involves looking at this time in our lives through a different lens. For sure, that won't mean looking back at what transpired before. Midlife crises worsen when we feel regret over the actions we did or did not take. Then again, it gives you tremendous peace when you start to realise you have a blank slate lying before you.
Rather than clinging to the problems and guilt of the past, find the courage to move on. Human as we are, we may take time to stop and reflect on our past actions, but there's nothing else we can do beyond that point. The good thing is that each day gives us a chance to start anew. Your life (or, in this case, the latter half of it) is what you make of it. While you can choose to talk about the past, it shouldn't distract you from all the best things you can do with the time that you still have.
Endnote
A midlife crisis will come out of nowhere and cause you to appreciate your life less. It's a good thing that it's never permanent. All you need to do is to get past that part as you enter what could be the best chapter of your journey!
This article is part of the HealthManagement.org Point-of-View Programme.
