I used to write on this topic regularly in another blog, because it is something that I thought was very common in our society. This morning, as I was going through my morning routine, I felt another urge to talk about this topic again. This blog is a little less formal, and is essentially me just putting my thoughts down on paper.
Going through a midlife crisis is something that is talked about pretty regularly in society, and pretty much for most of modern history. This is something we usually see in middle-aged men. Whether they purchase an exotic car, quite their job to start a new career, or worse…engage in an adulterous relationships. Often when these things happen, and the individual is a middle-aged man, our thoughts often go to -> Midlife Crisis.
Why do these things seem to happen so frequently with men?
I think men are designed to be chasing after goals and dreams. I’ve heard it worded that we need to be Lion Chasers. Throughout our entire lives, we have been inundated with thoughts of adventure, exploration, and often danger. This is why certain types of movies always resonate with the majority of men, whether it’s a war movie like Braveheart or a sports-comedy like Major League. These types of movies are about men overcoming, conquering, chasing their dreams and goals.
As small children, we start climbing on everything we can find, seeing how far we can make our little bodies go. When we start to become older children or preteens, we often start chasing after championships in sports or victories in video games. Moving into teenage years we start chasing girls and often preparing our education goals. As young adults we want to get that college degree, start that new career, and figuring out adulthood. Then we move into a stage of getting married, buying a house, having kids.
We are Always Chasing Goals
Our entire life, we are chasing after different goals, dreams, aspirations. Whether it’s a ‘damsel in distress’ (or at least that’s what we tell ourselves when we are trying to become their white knight), or having a successful career, we spend our lives trying to chase the next lion that we think will bring us inner satisfaction and true happiness. By the time we are in our late 30s or early 40s:
We married the woman we love;
Are children are starting to grow;
We have a house and cars; and
Our exciting career has landed us in a middle-management position with limited opportunities for future growth.
We find ourselves in a position where we don’t seem to have many goals or dreams to chase. This can be a devastating blow for most men, so they start searching for something to fill that void. And that’s the theory. That our midlife crisis is just that we are mid-life and are trying to find a lion to chase.
How to Avoid a Midlife Crisis
I can’t say for certain that we can completely avoid this in our lives. It seems to hit most men at some point. For me, I feel like I started going through it about two years ago. My life was pretty great for the most part – married to my best friend, six amazing kids, working with my family on growing ‘the family business’, beautiful house…everything was going well. Yet I still found myself with an empty feeling inside, I wasn’t feeling as happy as I thought I should.
So I decided to make a change. I decided to start chasing another lion, that lion was creating a mancamp where I can get together with other men, fathers, husbands and have a day of fun. A day where we can compete, eat good food, and listen to incredible speakers share on different areas of our lives that we need to focus on.
It’s possible this is my midlife crisis…and instead of focusing on buying a new car, starting a different career, or chasing after a new damsel in distress…I decided to chase after a new goal for my life. This goal does take time, and I have to balance it with all of life’s responsibilities (kids, house, marriage, work), but through keeping a good balance I’ve found myself in a position where I’m in the best position I’ve ever been.
That’s my advice to anyone who comes across this article. Find a lion to chase. Find something that you are passionate about, and turn that into a fun hobby. You can call it a side-hustle, hobby, new business, doesn’t really matter. Just that lion to chase that can help bring your life a little more fulfillment.
Small sidenote…this is the purpose of the Breakthrough & Conquer Mancamp. The whole goal of that day is to help breakdown mental barriers and help you find a lion worth chasing.
