Episode 7, Knowing Yourself

This week’s episode of Midlife Man is about knowing who you are and dealing with it. This topic is a special one for me because it is something I didn’t think about when I was in my 20’s. And don’t be worried- it will have a positive touch. Let me detail what I mean and get it started!

Everyone of us experiences changes when getting older. This time I am not referring to any changes in the outward appearance although the anti-age nightcreme next to my bed constantly reminds me that this is real. What I mean are changes within yourself. My 20’s have been a time of trial and error. I was testing things out and checking what I like and what I don’t like. Nowadays, it seems to me that this process was very important to define and become the person I want to be. Do I want to marry someday? Do I like children? How important is friendship to me and what does it actually mean? What are the things I like to do in my free time? How do I like to spend my vacation? What is the type of whiskey I prefer? Especially the latter is highly important, but I hope you get what I mean with above examples.

It was in my early 30’s when the topic of knowing and dealing with yourself hit me for the first time. I was in the gym, breast-biceps. I just finished my final set of bench-pressing when someone started to work out next to me. He must have been around 20 and he was lifting way more than I just did with absolute ease. Two reactions within myself that followed shortly after each other: 1) §$%& how is this possible? I am working my ass off and he is better than I ever will. 2) Who cares? I am doing this for more than 10yrs consistently and he may not be doing this in 2yrs anymore. I look and feel alright for my age. 

What I wanted to illustrate is that there are of course gaps between the picture of myself that I created in former years and the reality. But my 30’s blessed me with the wisdom to differentiate things I can affect and things I can accept as long as I can say that I tried my very best. Acceptance means peace and arrival to me and this is probably the most positive aspect I can imagine. Let me know if you can relate to what I just said and if you have experienced anything similar.

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