Mid-Life Crisis

It has appeared to me that numerous co-workers at my job are currently through mid-life crisis! I mean, does everyone really go through mid-life crisis??? What is this all about. All the men in my office around their 40s want to get out of their marriage, want to have a new girlfriend... basically want to be different than they are now. I am not sure if they are "bored", and this age thing is really hitting them or what - but what is this phenomena?

Here are some insights from the internet:

Midlife is the old age of youth and the youth of old age.Proverb
If this is true then many people are standing on the threshold of a "new youth." It is what Gail Sheehy in her book, New Passages, calls the "second adulthood." We all have a second chance at becoming the person we are meant to be. This second chance is called midlife. However, midlife is a new and often dangerous territory.

What is a helpful image for the midlife process? Perhaps it is the Midlife Quest in which there is a challenging adventure of seeking, exploration, and discovery. Or, it might be Midlife Metamorphosis where there is the profound change of reformation and transformation. Another image is that of Midlife Renaissance with a new birth, a new beginning, and a chance to start over. There is also the possibility of Midlife Crisis where there is a sense of urgency along with intense emotion and perplexity. Of the four possibilities it is Midlife Crisis that is ultimately most appropriate. This is because the two fundamental elements of crisis are found in all of the images.

A Dangerous Opportunity
The Chinese word for crisis readily shows these two basic elements. In the Chinese language the ideogram for crisis is made up of two separate characters. One of these characters represents "danger" and the other represents "opportunity." Thus the proper translation of crisis from Chinese is as a "dangerous opportunity." Any crisis in our lives provides the chance for change and growth -- the opportunity -- as well as the risk of regression or stagnation -- the danger. In the images of Quest, Metamorphosis, or Renaissance both opportunity and danger exist. You may not always attain the goal of the Quest, the Metamorphosis may not be complete, and the Renaissance may be a still birth. The danger of midlife is very real. Successful transition to the next life stage is not guaranteed.