Is It An Average Life Crisis? No, It’s An Awakening!

For some reason, we still believe that everyone must go through an average life crisis. However, what many who reach the age of 40 or 50 experience is, on the other hand, an awakening. It is an opportunity to put old perceptions and stereotypes on the shelf. It is a time when you reinvent yourself and choose a new path for the future.

If there is one word that people tend to use too much, it is the word “crisis”. There are social crises, economic crises, cultural crises, not to mention all personal crises. We often believe that this is a permanent state of emergency, and not a temporary situation.

If we think about this term for a while, we will realize something. A crisis involves a temporary stage where one is not organized, which means that the person cannot handle certain things with the methods and resources he or she has had until now. There is also a risk of trauma, which often has to do with the person’s own perception of being threatened or about to collapse.

If we apply this definition to the so-called average life crisis, we will realize that many of these points are not met. At least not among the new generations of men and women who have reached this milestone in their lives. These new generations are already challenging the traditional ideas that affect this time in life. The ideas that emphasize crises and difficulties.

What we are now dealing with instead is what many call “an awakening”. People want to achieve something better. There is a new positive spirit where you are strengthened through personal development.

In psychology, we understand that each stage of human existence involves a series of challenges and difficulties. The so-called developmental crises or adjustments occur at specific times between childhood and old age, where there are often various disturbances that affect our identity, our expectations and our control. The person is forced to leave certain ideas behind and accept a new reality.

We have always believed that there are certain crises that can be foreseen, and an example of this is adolescence. In these times, however, the so-called average life crisis is undergoing changes that require redefinition. Not too long ago, the transition in life from “summer” to “autumn” meant only one thing: that it was accepted that the youth was now behind us and that changes were underway. Changes that included aging, menopause, getting rid of your parents and leaving children at home.

Nowadays, however, we are starting to see things in a different way. The wind has turned and new ideas are emerging.

There are now many who believe that it should not be called an average life crisis, but that it should be changed to something such as “a search for identity at the center of our lives”. There is undoubtedly a transition, but it is not about losing something, it is about a personal search. You are willing to leave a part of your life behind you to reach a new stage. A stage with better resources, more freedom and a clearer identity.

It is a time in life when we realize the following:

• You do not want to regain the energy you had twenty years ago.
• You feel convinced that you have lived through the previous periods in life in a good way, but that you should now devote yourself to personality development.
• Many people, especially women, realize that they want to find their place in the world, which makes them want to achieve new and amazing goals in life.

Social networks are a reflection of our modern reality. To understand the essence of this so-called average life crisis, we only need to look at the “hashtag” #FaB (“fifty and beyond”). It represents a generational movement full of vitality. Maturity is not about the years that pass. It is not a loss, but a gain and above all a development.

People who are today in their fifties are very active, both intellectually and professionally. They are the human resources that lift up both companies and organizations. They can think critically and are better at solving problems. They have a lifetime of experience, and they know how to learn and stay up to date.

Nor can we turn a blind eye to the encouraging social change that women are experiencing. They reach positions of power and carry out their own projects. When they reach middle age, they also manage to make radical changes in their lives to be able to fulfill dreams of the past.

An average life crisis is no longer as critical as it used to be. Nothing is lost during middle age; instead you win a lot. Old values ​​no longer apply and happiness does not only come from youth. Well-being and hope no longer have anything to do with age. The only time you start to age is when you stop setting goals for the future.

Let’s stop calling it an average life crisis! Let’s call it what it really is: an awakening.