“A Porsche is cheaper than a divorce.”
Actually, that would make a good marketing slogan, straight out of Crazy People. Maybe I have a future on Madison Avenue, non?
Stranger
Buy them? BUY them? Why, I had no idea! Mine were usually delivered through a window, tied to a rock!
Oh yeah…50 is way more bettah than 25.
Assuming that you have something like a normal life (you’re not in an abusive relationship, your not a drug addict, etc.), my main advice would be to be motivated by what you want to move toward, not by what you think you want to get away from. This is true for any point in life.
As far as mid-life crises go, I think they’re largely bullshit. The problem isn’t that you’re getting older, it’s that you’re going to die. Americans, at least, go way the hell out of their way trying to avoid that fact, much to their detriment, IMO. If you can get a grip on your mortality, you can get a grip on your life.
Psychotherapy.
Not to start blaming your youth, your family, your wife, kids or your job, but just to see where you are stuck in ruts of your own making.
I recall a funny out of an old Reader’s Digest. Middle aged husband bought a sports car. Wife is giving him a ration of shit over it. Husband replies, that most guy his age either get a sports car or a girlfriend. Wife never complained again about the sports car.
So, It is the blight man was born for, is it?
You lie! Why do you lie so, you lying liar! Take that back right now!!!1!
NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONono no…
Expecting to find something that you are really “passionate” about is a bit unrealistic, for some folks. Lots of people just aren’t wired that way, and spending years and years chasing that fleeting feeling is likely to end in disappointment.
If you can’t find your “true passion,” you might feel some fulfillment by volunteering your time in the service of others. Nonprofits are crying for help and there are some amazing causes out there. You really can make a (small) difference in the life or others, and sometimes a pretty big one.
It also helps to have goals that really stretch you and get you out of that spirit-numbing comfort zone. For some, that might be running a marathon or hiking a small section of the Appalachian Trail or climbing a 14er in Colorado. For others, it might be to master knitting or to work toward becoming a yoga instructor.
Truly, it could be a thousand things, but finding just a couple of Pretty Good Things right now beats spending years and years fruitlessly trying to find The Perfect Thing.
This is sort of what my sister’s girlfriend did. Adopted a hobby she had always wanted to do, but never had. It gave her a bit of “herself” back allowing her to have her own unique identity again.
(My sister says it’s even worse for lesbian couples because they practically merge into the same person. Hence you see “dyke-alikes”, those lesbian couples who look like clones).
But it’s a good rule for any couple. It’s great having hobbies you share, but also healthy to have some aspect of your life that is “mine” and not “ours”. When my mid-life crisis hits, I’m aiming to buy some seriously cool power tools. 