Midlife crisis

NY Times exposes the truth of a male midlife crisis--Crisis? Maybe He's a Narcissistic Jerk.

But you have to admit that “I’m having a midlife crisis” sounds a lot better than “I’m a narcissistic jerk having a meltdown.”

Another patient, a 49-year-old man at the pinnacle of his legal career, started an affair with an office colleague. “I love my wife,” he said, “and I don’t know what possessed me.”

It didn’t take long to find out. The first five years of his marriage were exciting. “It was like we were dating all the time,” he recalled wistfully. But once they had a child, he felt an unwelcome sense of drudgery and responsibility creep into his life.

Being middle-aged had nothing to do with his predicament; it was just that it took him 49 years to reach a situation where he had to seriously take account of someone else’s needs, namely those of his baby son. In all likelihood, the same thing would have happened if he had become a father at 25.

Why do we have to label a common reaction of the male species to one of life’s challenges — the boredom of the routine — as a crisis? True, men are generally more novelty-seeking than women, but they certainly can decide what they do with their impulses.

While the effect of a midlife crisis might be terrible, we should all be having one. Each of us might be past our midlife point.

It sounds like a gift from a loving God to us saying, "Wake up! Everything that you've been chasing is meaningless.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live"

The questions of a midlife crisis are wonderful to ask. What's the point in life? Where am I going? Why haven't I found happiness? Oh crap! I'm going to die.

Christians should ask themselves these questions regularly.

Our default programming is to be like the guy in the article--to wake up, say "I deserve better!" and take what we want. I pray at that at my next midlife crisis, I wake up, repent, and dance that God is 100% for me in Christ.