Mid-life crisis as a wake-up call and a turning point

Mid-life awakenings

It frequently happens in middle age, that sudden onset of a seeming temporary flight of fancy that discards plans that had been built for years in pursuit of an elusive dream, a forgotten cherished hobby, or passions that had once been sacrificed on the altar of pragmatism. A highly successful magazine editor, on top of her game, quits the prestige, the perks, and the power…to just “help out” in a small family-owned resort in a distant province. A communications executive who turns her back on a stable and high-paying job to finally concentrate on acting…and in the low-paying theater circuit, to boot. An educator who has a couple of degrees and several published journals to her name eventually eschews the academic life to learn and teach…the more physical, sensual art of spa massages.


That it usually happens when one reaches his or her 40’s is no accident. As told to me by a friend and colleague who experienced one such internal revolution, it’s like some kind of subconscious realization dawns that the mid-mark of life has been passed. A first half of a person’s living years is over—and he is facing the final second act of his life, with lesser energy, lesser physical stamina, resources that now demand some kind of prioritization for its use, and perhaps narrower choices.

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How to create your personal vision

How to create a personal vision? 

It means rediscovering the dreams that we may have left behind.

Easier said than done, especially when we don't even know what our dreams are.

Elena Tuason-Verlee, a U.S.-trained and certified personal coach, gave a set of questions that could help us create our own personal and professional roadmap.  It's just a part of a greater and wonderful article in the February 2010 edition of Working Mom Magazine, an ABS-CBN publication.  I've posted the cover here.

Here are Elena's guide questions for a productive kind of introspection:

"1.  What do I want more of in my life?

2.  What do I want less of in my life?

3.  If money were no object and failure wasn't possible, what would my career be like?

4. What relationships do I need to nurture, or let go of?

5. What is my relationship to money?

6.  My secret passion or dream that I never mention because it's too big or unattainable to even think about is...

7.  What am I most afraid of?

8.  What accomplishments or measurable events must occur during my lifetime so that I will consider my lie to have been satisfying and well-lived; a life of few or no regrets?

9. What could I do that would bring more joy into my daily life?

10. What am I grateful for?"

Thanks, Elena! Click Here to Read More..