Are You Going Through a Midlife Crisis or a Spiritual Awakening?

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

As we approach the age 40, no matter where we are in our life journey, everything seems to change. Married couples split up, careers no longer fulfill us, we fall out of sync with old friends, and tolerance for people-pleasing and tradition goes down. As we approach age 40 or reach that age, it becomes a time when we shed our old lives, the life that we were programmed to strive for: keeping up with traditions; blind loyalty to people, places and things that we’re expected to be loyal to; and the “perfect” life with a family, a home and a “stable” job.

This transformational time in our lives is often defined as the midlife crisis. While it’s not an official clinical diagnosis, therapists are trained to equip people with the tools to get through this stage in life. But are these professionals trained to provide guidance of a spiritual nature? The answer is no. Can a religious leader answer questions about spirituality outside of their own religious doctrine? Maybe. Most importantly, how do we define this time in life when everything about our existence comes into question? So ask yourself, are you going through a midlife crisis or a spiritual awakening?

Let me inject my thoughts on the matter: the mid-life crisis and spiritual awakening are one in the same. We all just deal with it in different ways and how we…