As you graduate high school and venture out into the world, you have a view of what your life should be. You will maybe go to college and get a degree, possibly you already are madly in love and just want to get married and have a family. So you graduate college and settle down with your spouse, or you have been working a while supporting a household and kids. You make sure the kids are taken care of, go to all the soccer practices, make sure your son is signed up for football or gymnastics or whatever the chosen sport is. Life is fabulous, or it’s at least what you thought life should be and you are fairly content. Well, mostly anyway.

Several years go by and you find yourself feeling a little like the hamster on the wheel. You get up, briefly kiss your spouse, go to work, run the errands, take care of the yard, clean the house, maybe on the weekends you will get to go to the movies…maybe. It’s pretty much the same day, same week, same month, month after month. This doesn’t mean you are unhappy. Life is going along smoothly, no huge arguments really, in fact you don’t talk much at all if it isn’t about the kids, school, what happened at work, or what needs done around the house. Realistically, you see each other every day, not much changes, so there isn’t that much new to talk about.

As time marches on, you wonder when the last time you heard your spouse tell you they love you and you felt like they really meant it. You know they love you, you are very comfortable together, not “best friend” love, but the heart stopping love. When was the last time you looked at them and thought “how can I possibly live without them?” Maybe it was a week ago, maybe a month ago, maybe you don’t remember. When was the last time that your spouse made you feel attractive and really wanted? Hmmmm!

One day it hits you. It may have been something small that happened. You smiled at someone that you thought was attractive and they regarded you like you were a parent figure or a kindly aunt. I may have been the death of someone your age or one of your parents. It may have been something no more significant than catching a glimpse of your reflection in a window and wondering when you got that old. But something inside you changes.

You start to wonder when the last time was that you were really happy. Not merely content but happy, “laugh out loud” happy. When was the last time you had the feeling of excitement in the pit of your stomach when you saw someone. You have been so busy making sure everyone else’s world was okay, when do you get to be happy? You see yourself aging and time to be happy and do the things that you always wanted to running out. You may have even mention this to your spouse whom more or less brushed it off as though it wasn’t important.

This is when you have, what is called the midlife crises. It’s a change in attitude, it’s trying to take one last shot at being young and being happy. It may go away if it is ignored, but it may just be the only chance you will have to make your life change. If you wait any longer, you will be too old to be the fun person you want to be. Yes, this is when many middle-aged people go out and try to be the younger person and often times make a fool of themselves in other peoples eyes in the process. It’s when you buy the sports car you always wanted. Date the much younger person, because somehow that will make you feel younger. You no longer want to be the old person that is in bed by ten o’clock. And chances are you will catch up to that again before you know it. But for one last time, maybe for the only time in your life, you want to be young, somewhat carefree and have fun before it’s too late.