Category: This Is Just For Me

Mid Life Workaholics

“Workaholics commit slow suicide by refusing to allow the child inside them to play”. — Dr. Lawrence Susser

Recognizing the intense desire to do a good job, many people still have a challenging time overcoming mid life work addiction.

My Grandfather worked full-time, plus he ran a TV repair business out of his basement.  This was back in the day when Televisions were heavy and huge.  He had to travel to people’s homes.  This traveling and the work required to repair TV’s in the basement, plus the travel to return the TV, must have made his work commitment enormous.

My Dad worked 5 1/2 days every single week at the Paper Mill.  On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, he taught 30-minute drum lessons in our living room – from 4pm until 8pm.  On Friday and Saturday nights, he played drums in a band – weddings, anniversaries, clubs, etc.

Now it’s my turn. Working at a Fortune 100 Company, there is no shortage of work to be done. And I’ve done it willingly for several decades.  Now, I’m also working on my retirement business – to help raise enough money to find a cure for our son’s Crohn’s disease.

The difference, I perceive, is that I have found creative ways to be part of our son’s life.  But only after I squandered the first four decades of my life.

Who Gives A Crap?

“He that would govern others, first should be Master of himself”. — Philip Massinger

If this is the case, then there really aren’t too many qualified leaders out there. Are there?

How hard do you work to gain mastery over yourself?  Do you even care?  Isn’t it an awful lot of work to polish things no one can immediately, if ever, see?

Then why do it?  Simply this, you will know.  And if you never get to the point where this is important to you, then you will never understand self-mastery.  If you never understand this, you will always be frustrated with people, particularly yourself.

Who gives a crap, right?  My point exactly.

Naked Man

“Beware of the naked man who offers you his shirt”. — Harvey Mackay

By now, we know that there are many people who make tons of promises. Same with businesses, with marketing, with the Internet, and so on. False promises.

The real question is, to me, “What promises am I making to myself that are false promises?  Promises to be wary of”?

This is one of the main reasons we find ourselves in a mid-life crisis.

We start with good, well-intended promises, but in reality, they were really only false promises:

  • Get healthier
  • Spend more time with Family
  • Learn more
  • Forgive more
  • Save more
  • Be a better example

No one should feel alone reading this.  We all suffer from this.  We’re human. That’s what we do, we fail. Over and over again.

So now, consciously reminded of this, “What are you gonna do about it?  And I mean specifically, what are you gonna do today”?

Mid Life Thursday

Mid Life Thursday.  We’ve been living in central Florida for 25 years.  We even live within a couple miles of Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Epcot Theme Parks.

Disney is the area’s biggest employer. and at Disney World, Thursday is payday.  Some 60,000 pay checks every week, I think.

There are acronyms for the Disney Theme Parks.  Take E – P – C – O – T:

  • Employee Paychecks Come on Thursday
  • Every Person Comes Out Tired
  • Every Parent Carries One Toddler
  • Experimental Polyester Costumes Of Torture

People have wild imaginations to figure these acronyms out.

I’d wanted to apply that same creativity and fun into figuring out my mid life crisis.

So, I tried.  Here’s what I came up with back in the 1990’s – Mid Life Celebration.

Have fun today.  Use your mid life imagination.  And your mid life fun factor.

And make it a GREAT Thursday.  If not today, when?

Next Blog