+- School Survival Forums (http://forums.school-survival.net)
+-- Forum: The Lounge (/forumdisplay.php?fid=34)
+--- Forum: General Talk (/forumdisplay.php?fid=18)
+---- Forum: Philosophy, Politics & History (/forumdisplay.php?fid=10)
+---- Thread: Mid-life crisis (/showthread.php?tid=12608)
Mid-life crisis - SoulRiser - 09-20-2008 06:06 AM
According to Wikipedia:
Quote:Midlife crisis is a term used in Western societies to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" of life, as a result of sensing the passing of youth and the imminence of old age. Sometimes, transitions experienced in these years, such as aging in general, menopause, the death of parents, or children leaving home, can trigger such a crisis. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day to day life or situation, such as in career, marriage, or romantic relationships.
I think a lot of it is due to a person realizing that they spent all that time on stuff that didn't really matter after all, and they feel a strong urge to change their way of life. However, due to being conditioned for so many years, they can't even put their feelings into words, and thus, a term "mid-life crisis" was born, and is now used as a convenient "phase" with which to explain away those very legitimate feelings.
Exaggerated example:
Person: "I just feel like I wasted my life doing all this unnecessary stuff."
Other person: "Oh, don't worry, you're just having a mid-life crisis. It'll get better by itself."
It's just a convenient excuse to continue blundering along in the same routine without stopping to think and truly question whether you're doing what you really should be doing with your life.
Thoughts?
Re: Mid-life crisis - John Tuttle - 09-20-2008 06:53 AM
-_-
Re: Mid-life crisis - Michio-kun - 09-20-2008 10:16 AM
Quote:Thoughts?
Well first of all, 9/11 was an inside job.
Also, I think that when people have a "mid-life" crisis, they're simply realizing they're getting old and perhaps some regrets surface and they feel that they're helpless to do anything about it. No doubt the more emphasis a culture places on consumerism and materialism, the more prevalent such mid-life crises become.
Re: Mid-life crisis - Dark Soul X - 09-20-2008 01:16 PM
Age is only physical. I can safely bet, with my attitude, there's gonna be a good chance I'll still be acting young when I'm older. I'm that way at heart.
Re: Mid-life crisis - PIMP. - 09-20-2008 04:35 PM
SoulRiser Wrote:Thoughts?
Yes i think its interesting how the "mid life crisis" phenomenon is really only prevalent in western culture. The societies that don't have a selfish, workaholic, greed mentality don't seem to be affected. Its also funny how our reaction is to attach the word "crises" onto it. As if to say a person who desires to make some changes in their life is experiencing some kind of disaster situation that has been officially declared a crises. Its akin to something like "get back in line #12575 we dont want you setting a good example for the other consumerbots." Maybe thats going a bit to far but you know what I mean.
I think the path to take is to go through this period early in life. The earlier the better. I would hate be in a situation where im 40 and still haven't figured anything out. Its important to find out who your are and what you want from life when your young so when you get to that mid point in your life you can reap the rewards.
This topic always reminds me the movie American Beauty. Awesome film... Mena Suvari cute, but so overated.
So whats the deal with this anyway. Just got a random urge to wiki Mid life crises?
Re: Mid-life crisis - Captain_Katiakicz - 09-20-2008 04:36 PM
Dark Soul X Wrote:Age is only physical. I can safely bet, with my attitude, there's gonna be a good chance I'll still be acting young when I'm older. I'm that way at heart.Me too. I'm glad someone else feels this way!
Re: Mid-life crisis - SoulRiser - 09-21-2008 12:28 AM
Quote:I think the path to take is to go through this period early in life. The earlier the better. I would hate be in a situation where im 40 and still haven't figured anything out.Agreed.
Ironically, there's another thing called a "quarter-life crisis"... though I haven't looked that one up.
But yeah, with the way thinking and daydreaming is discouraged, it's no wonder most people take that long to get to the point where they realize they went off-course somewhere along the way.
Quote:So whats the deal with this anyway. Just got a random urge to wiki Mid life crises?I can't remember what triggered it, but it's something I was thinking about a while ago. I just never looked it up until now. I still wanted to see if I could find any midlife crisis support forums or something to
Re: Mid-life crisis - Freak - 09-21-2008 02:00 AM
Actually, I think that a midlife crisis is generally a term to describe someone who has attained all of their goals in life, and then they realize how unsatisfying they are.
Re: Mid-life crisis - SoulRiser - 09-21-2008 02:27 AM
Quote:Actually, I think that a midlife crisis is generally a term to describe someone who has attained all of their goals in life, and then they realize how unsatisfying they are.That's probably the best summary of the whole thing.
Re: Mid-life crisis - Ahab - 09-22-2008 12:27 PM
It's a great economic stimulus. Changing your lifestyle means changing your car, changing your dietary habits, and much more. That makes a lot of money.
Re: Mid-life crisis - Abandoning Ship - 09-22-2008 12:32 PM
I remember on my way home from school on the bus, I saw this big RV near a nice looking house, and I thought I saw the word "Denial" written on the front of it. It actually said Denali, but it was funny because it reminded me of the kind of what a lot of people do during this mid-life crises shindig, like buy RVs and fast cars and stuff. Maybe as a way of denying that all they're dreams of having a huge house or whatever were actually unfufilling.
It's a very interesting phenomenon.
Re: Mid-life crisis - SoulRiser - 09-23-2008 02:57 AM
It's really sad though. I mean, you can get to the point of admitting you're unhappy with your life and all that... but then redirect those thoughts into actions that don't solve anything. This tells me that people really have no idea how to be honest with themselves.
What can one really do about that?
Re: Mid-life crisis - Abandoning Ship - 09-23-2008 05:42 AM
SoulRiser Wrote:It's really sad though. I mean, you can get to the point of admitting you're unhappy with your life and all that... but then redirect those thoughts into actions that don't solve anything. This tells me that people really have no idea how to be honest with themselves.
What can one really do about that?
I don't see much you can do. If you're unable to be that honest with yourself, then you probably won't be able to fix the problem itself, unfortunately. I guess you just have to make sure that you pursue fulfilling goals that you yourself want to accomplish, instead of society's dreams, like "The American Dream".
But yeah, it's pretty sad. :(
Re: Mid-life crisis - Aya - 09-25-2008 02:36 AM
It's a bullshit term used by psychologists to classify people in a certain age bracket who're unsatisfied with thier lives. In your twenties it's called a quarterlife crisis, and during childhood its called Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
Re: Mid-life crisis - SoulRiser - 09-25-2008 02:43 AM
Quote:It's a bullshit term used by psychologists to classify people in a certain age bracket who're unsatisfied with thier lives. In your twenties it's called a quarterlife crisis, and during childhood its called Oppositional Defiant Disorder.*adds to quote collection*
Re: Mid-life crisis - i-am-the-liquor - 09-28-2008 01:21 PM
my dad went insane, bought a truck, went golfing everyday he was off work, and ate pizza and drank double the ammount of coffe he normaly does, and grew out his beard, also noticed he talked to himself more often, something about worthless. this was 8 years ago, three more years and hell be sixty
Re: Mid-life crisis - AWOL - 02-04-2009 04:47 PM
There's been a recent study. A midlife crisis doesn't happen because you've wasted your life, your getting old etc.
It's because your mate is. You have a desire to find a new one which is why you buy flashy stuff, it's a subconscious attempt to attract a mate.
Re: Mid-life crisis - Ahab - 02-04-2009 06:18 PM
SoulRiser Wrote:According to Wikipedia:You're due for one soon...nearly 27, fucking christ.
Quote:Midlife crisis is a term used in Western societies to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" of life, as a result of sensing the passing of youth and the imminence of old age. Sometimes, transitions experienced in these years, such as aging in general, menopause, the death of parents, or children leaving home, can trigger such a crisis. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day to day life or situation, such as in career, marriage, or romantic relationships.
I think a lot of it is due to a person realizing that they spent all that time on stuff that didn't really matter after all, and they feel a strong urge to change their way of life. However, due to being conditioned for so many years, they can't even put their feelings into words, and thus, a term "mid-life crisis" was born, and is now used as a convenient "phase" with which to explain away those very legitimate feelings.
Exaggerated example:
Person: "I just feel like I wasted my life doing all this unnecessary stuff."
Other person: "Oh, don't worry, you're just having a mid-life crisis. It'll get better by itself."
It's just a convenient excuse to continue blundering along in the same routine without stopping to think and truly question whether you're doing what you really should be doing with your life.
Thoughts?
Re: Mid-life crisis - returnal - 02-08-2009 01:17 AM
People that say "it's just a midlife crisis" are just using an excuse. You don't just regret things in your later years.
Re: Mid-life crisis - spookycloud - 09-21-2009 02:36 PM
Freak Wrote:Actually, I think that a midlife crisis is generally a term to describe someone who has attained all of their goals in life, and then they realize how unsatisfying they are.
This is spot on and I'm glad I realised this before mid or quarterlife... 0.o I read a book called "30 something and over it" about a woman who spent her twenties climbing the corporate ladder only to realise promotions meant endless burdens and she didn't want to go to work anymore.
The author Kasey Edwards found the "meaning of life" through starting a family *rolls eyes* but suggested it could be a metaphorical baby too. Desperation for new goals to "relieve the stress" is kind of disturbing though when workaholics fear "failure" and stagnation. Pace and structure shouldn't be such an issue. Fulfillment arises from pursuing activities which utilise/cultivate our core strengths and/or interests. Schools should have catered to freer, introspective, individual based learning culture earlier.
I used to care about making good grades so I could go to university but I realised that I didn't even want to spend the bulk of my life writing papers/doing depersonalised assignments anymore. We work to live not the other way around. If you sacrifice for rewards, weigh up the worth of anticipation vs how much you're enjoying the process I guess, but consumer society is pretty manipulative so it's not always easy to be far sighted about these things. Now I like to view goals as being more open ended and experimental rather than as mental checkpoints. The final destination is death, you'd think such accomplished numbness would result in ultimate bliss but even that possibility is pretty abstract.
