And you thought it would be clear sailing after your mid-life crisis! Well, the late-life crisis really is a thing.. the difference being a mid-life crisis focuses on the loss of opportunities and a fear of getting old; maybe you dye your hair or buy a sports car.. whereas a late-life crisis is more focused on a feeling of irrelevance and loss of purpose, and it feels pointless to even get out of your bathrobe. A late life crisis is normally brought on by an event such as the death of a loved one, illness, money problems, or physical constraints from an aging body – or it could be just the slow move into a numbing feeling that one day is just like the other without any purpose or engagement. Good news is that it can be changed! There are ways to move through it quickly and embrace a new perspective looking forward, leaving behind the regrets of what you “should have done” to a new energy for what “can be done” from here on out!
By reframing what it means to age, you are already on the right track. Changing your mindset about aging, from depression to opportunity, provides hope for a future full of things you can accomplish with the benefit of experience! Seriously, this may be the perfect time to adopt journaling if you consider how much you have to share with your family and friends – there are many ways to go about it. Whether you make a plan of action for activities you enjoy with others, or new activities to learn, or those which could also bring in some income (photography, writing blogs, and more), making a plan with a purpose is the first step – and one you can make today.
Follow this LINK for a refreshing article that lists practices you can follow to avoid looking in the rearview mirror. Instead of focusing on an identity of whether you are a person of success, focus on whether you are a person of value – because all of us bring value to the table! Seniors have a lifetime of experiences which can be the foundation for adopting a real purpose for the time we have left to accomplish new opportunities – it may be just the deadline you need to hop up and conquer the world once again!