Not to mention the inevitable aches and pains that shout, "You’re older than you feel!" And, if your friends are around the same age, the sickness is everywhere you look. It’s just like being a teenager again, but with longer hangovers and more shame. Instead of nature pumping hormones into your body, it starts draining them out again.
But enough doom and gloom. I feel it’s my job to help make sense of this moment. Just think of me as your Midlife Crisis Correspondent.
Here I want to talk about a revelation I experienced thanks to a few simple ingredients: pasta, milk, flour and cheese. Let’s just say I now belong to the mac 'n' cheese school of philosophy. Middle age comes with a lot of onerous practical considerations.
You probably have a responsible, high-pressure job. If you have them, your children are older and don’t need you as much. If they are still around, your parents are also older, but now they need you more.
You’re almost certainly worried about your health. But it’s the psychology of middle age that really matters. Beating a genuine—and potentially harmful—midlife crisis means never avoiding or repressing those awkward feelings.
You know the ones: Who am I? What the hell am I doing? Do I really have to read David Foster Wallace?
Extract — continue reading at the source.
