Crisis or Transition?

We often confuse a transition in our life with a crisis. Transitions are a part of life, parts we cannot avoid. If we do not experience any life transitions it probably means we are no longer alive. If we are not prepared for life transitions we can find ourselves feeling lost and in a feeling of crisis. Our self-identities can be questioned and we can seem to lose our paths. There is a reason the idea of a mid-life or quarter-life crisis is entrenched in our society—many people feel like they have one.

A lot of people think they experience a crisis in their lives when they are in their 60s. Simultaneous to these feelings of being in a crisis, these same people may be retiring from a job they have worked for decades, and have their children moving away and having families of their own. Two huge life changes are accompanying this feeling of a “crisis.” With two huge life changes, people in this age category can open themselves up to feelings of emptiness and uncertainty as they navigate the next chapter of their lives. What were the focal points of life for the previous decades have moved on and no longer exist in the same way.

The same scenario can be applied to different ages of people; someone who graduates college and enters the workforce for the first time, someone becomes a parent for the first time and no longer has only themselves to take care of, someone is looking to change careers after multiple years at a particular role. With any of these feelings, someone could feel they are going through a crisis. From viewing these crises with a different perspective, it is easier to call them simply life transitions.

With this perspective in mind, I now believe that a mid-life crisis is a myth. A feeling of being in crisis is because a life transition was not prepared for or able to be accepted. Changes in life are common and will happen. By accepting the changes and learning to adapt, we can thrive in our new situations. If we resist life changes, they will choose to resist us. In resisting, this is where we find ourselves in crisis management. We create the idea of a crisis when we are unwilling to accept and adapt based on how our lives have changed.

When we are going through periods of uncertainty, doubt, newness, and ultimately change in our life, how we view these periods will determine our result. If we view it as a crisis, that is the world we will manifest. If we view it as a life transition, we will be able to adapt and grow to ultimately conquer. Crisis or transition, which do you prefer?