Midlife Makeover: Balance and the Soul

I find it meaningful to think of life balance in terms of body, heart, mind, and soul. Physical well-being provides a foundation; emotional health connects us with others; mental clarity enables us to focus; spiritual energy guides us toward the purpose and value of our lives. I usually take them in order, ending with the soul. This is, however, a holy week on the Christian calendar. It is a week for reflecting on our deepest insights about the meaning and importance of life.

Midlife can be a time of spiritual transition and expansion into new ways of seeing. We typically start out in life by defining success in terms of roles. As students, we strive for good grades, social popularity, and athletic achievement. As workers, we pursue income and benefits, promotion, responsibility, and recognition. In family roles, we value the health and happiness of partners and children, siblings and parents. We also play roles as volunteers, as learners, as leaders, as activists—each with its own standard of success.

The time comes, however, when we ask: What is the purpose behind the purpose? We look deeper: What does it mean to be happy? We find that inner peace arises from accepting what is, not from getting our way. Unconditional love brings more happiness than forcing others to meet our needs. We stop to enjoy the beauty of a sunset…or to listen, really listen to a loved one, without debating the validity of their viewpoint or reacting from the depths of self-interest.

We spend our lives building a self-concept out of successes and failures—at work, at home, on the athletic field, in the classroom. We are good musicians and terrible cooks, great hostesses, abysmal skiers, and the list gets longer with the years. In midlife we may seek to shed that list and to raise our sense of self and life purpose to a higher level: We live. We love. We enjoy. We accept. We appreciate. We are present.

Check out the following link to an article about the mother of my friend Bridget. Her lifelong journey toward meaning is an inspiration. www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/84283712.html

Until the next time, go well.


Pam
www.wellbuddies.com