The Beginner’s Guide to Navigating Middle Life Transition With Serendipity.
Oh Wow! I looked in the mirror and hardly recognized the person reflected at me. Where did the time go? How is my life suddenly so different now than how I had spent the last thirty years? I decided to find ways to navigate this middle life transition with serendipity.
My four children are now grown, living their lives, and reside all over the United States. It seems as it was just yesterday I was loading up backpacks, helping with homework, and wiping their runny noses. I look back fondly on those times, and it seems they disappeared as quickly as they came about.
It is well known that people are living longer, more productive lives. Shouldn’t we embrace that? Let’s LIVE passionately, embracing our new challenges and do them with joy. Midlife can be a wonderful transformation if we allow ourselves to look for the opportunity to develop ourselves into the person we now want to be.
What is Midlife Serendipity?
Serendipity, by definition, is the occurrence of an unplanned fortunate discovery. Let’s look for and experience serendipity as we travel through the next half of our lives. Many people view growing older as a negative thing. Still, I view it as an opportunity to explore and revamp our dreams for now and the future…and find some unexpected serendipity along the way.
If you’re anything like me, you spent the first portion of your life either living up to someone’s expectations, such as your parents and teachers, or working for your boss or company. Many women were busy raising their children and putting their family’s needs and desires before their own. Nancy Anderson once said, “Life is a story that needs to be rewritten midlife to reflect the desires of the authentic self.” We can now look forward to exploring new dreams and living for what we want, separate from being a mother or manager, and navigate through this thing referred to as midlife or middle age.
Preparing for Middle Life Transition
Let’s explore different topics so that we can conquer middle life like a superhero and be in a position to accomplish our dreams.
Health
Sometimes I wake up feeling a little more crickety than I once did. Take the time to contemplate how to take care of your health to live a happy and healthy long life. Perhaps you need to see a doctor to be sure you are on the right track or take care of the nagging back pain that will only progress if you don’t address it now.
It is also the time to eat and exercise differently due to weight gain from peri-menopause or thyroid issues. Many health issues can be combatted with advice from your doctor. We want to feel good so that we can thrive this next half to accomplish our dreams.
Should you exercise more to ensure you are healthy to travel the way you want? Many women have put off fitness while we were raising our families or climbing the corporate ladder. Now is the time to begin a routine to ensure we are fit and feel good about ourselves. Walking each day not only gives us exercise but gets us outside to be at peace with nature.
Maybe consult a personal trainer to help you accomplish your fitness goals. A trainer can help you with everything from a stretching routine, workout plan, and weight lifting plan. Did you know that one of the reasons we gain weight during midlife is due to our metabolism slowing down? Lifting weights, even using our own body weight, increases our dwindling muscle mass, increasing our metabolism.
Take time now to make an appointment with your doctor and devise a menu and exercise plan to allow you the opportunity to live a long healthy life.
Try these other articles:
- 5 Best Ways to Boost Your Metabolism
- Best Guide For a Beginning Home Workout
- Top Benefits of a Walking Routine
Finance and Career
Where do you sit with your retirement funds? Do you need to switch careers or find something to supplement your income? Can you find a way to cut back on spending? Is now an opportunity to downsize? Visit with a financial planner to brainstorm ideas on how to accomplish your financial goals.
Invest
Plan now for your financial future to ensure you never struggle for money once you enter retirement. Contribute more to your 401(k), IRA, HSA, or other retirement plans. For participants 50 or better, the catch-up contribution amount has risen to $6500 in the year 2021, as announced by the IRS.
Write a Will
The majority, up to 60%, of American’s, don’t have a will. What happens if you don’t have a will? The state will distribute your assets, and the state will appoint someone of their choosing to oversee the distribution. No matter how often you proclaimed that you want to provide for Susie’s education, your wishes may not be granted if there isn’t a will upon your passing. Contact your attorney or use an online service to get your will done.
Have a Term Life Insurance Policy in Place
A life insurance policy provides loved ones with protection when you pass away. The insurance policy will also cover the cost of your funeral, outstanding debts, and possibly your mortgage upon your passing, allowing your family not to be burdened. Look for the Best Term Life Insurance policy for your needs and budget.
Take care of your health and financial obligations so that we may enjoy our loved ones and friends to the fullest. Now for the fun part where serendipity blossoms!
Try These Other Articles:
- 8 Steps To Do Now To Plan For Retirement
- How To Write Your Will In 10 Easy Steps
- What Are Social Security Benefits? |How Much Will You Get When You Retire?
Empty Nest
As our children grow and our interests change, we have the opportunity to examine how we want to live the next phase of our lives. Some women struggle with their children gone and feel they no longer have a purpose. This actually gives us a chance to live out new desires, routines, and possibly even an opportunity to live somewhere different. Consider the possibility of downsizing and not having the yard and several rooms to maintain. Have you always wanted to live in the city or on the beach? While we continue to work, we can also make plans for the future dream place to live. Read Best Tips To Embrace Empty Nest Syndrome to learn more.
Roadmap
What do you need to do to accomplish the above? Set aside some time to really contemplate how to work towards your roadmap. By putting timelines in place, there is a much better chance your life vision will be accomplished. Follow that roadmap so that the only surprises are serendipitous.
Dream
Write a “bucket” list, if you will, of the dreams you haven’t permitted yourself to do or never took the time to dream. Dream BIG!! Serendipity surprises may happen when you write your dreams down on paper and plan to achieve them. What once worked to create satisfaction at an earlier stage of life does not always apply to later stages. You may need a tune-up to adjust your dreams or dream again.
Serendipity
Start a journal and write down the things that go well each day. Keep your eye out for things that give you joy- a happy dog with his head out the car window, the sun shining on the first tulips of Spring. If you take time to pause and reflect, you will be able to find the serendipity in life.
Tips For Success in Middle Life Transition
The biggest tip that I can give for success in midlife is to TAKE ACTION!
You have jotted down your dreams and have a plan on how to accomplish them. A dream and a list will not do any good unless you spread your wings and jump. You got this! Treat yourself to living a full life of serendipity and work through the things you need to do to address the sometimes challenging aspects of being middle age. You deserve to live an educated, fulfilled, and joyous life of serendipity.
Write that list!
Dream big and take action.
Today…
Now! What are you waiting for?
If this article was helpful to you, please share it with your friends and family. Find out more about midlife and serendipity at Life With Laurel.
