{"id":24127,"date":"2019-02-23T00:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-02-23T00:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flashpacknew.wpengine.com\/?p=24127"},"modified":"2023-05-10T13:54:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T12:54:01","slug":"turning-40-midlife-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox.flashpack.com\/us\/solo\/wellness\/turning-40-midlife-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning 40 and embracing a midlife crisis changed my life"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Andrew Dickens, turning 40 was a wake-up call. He thinks we should all embrace the midlife crisis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Life begins at 40! Try telling that to someone from the 15th century. If they hit 40, they\u2019d be looking over their shoulder for an unearthly scythe held by a guy who always looks slim in black. For them, the phrase would have been \u2018death stalks at 40, if you make it that far\u2019.<\/p>\n

Luckily, with a fair wind and a little sense, people today have a considerably longer life expectancy: 71.5 years, globally, with a few years extra if you\u2019re born in a developed country, and some bonus time if you\u2019re a woman.<\/p>\n

So, while it\u2019s patently untrue that life begins at 40, it\u2019s true that we have a lot more time after hitting that mark. There’s no race to tick the bucket list, less need to fear the Reaper. This, though, can lead to complacency and procrastination: I don\u2019t need to hike the Inca trail<\/a> now just because I\u2019m 40. I can leave it to 45. Or 50. 60? Yeah. Or maybe 90, using my stem-cell-regenerated super-anatomy.<\/p>\n

More years equals more time to do stuff. Makes sense, right? WRONG!<\/p>\n

The wake-up call<\/h3>\n
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56 (very hilly) kilometres later. The medal doubles up as a bottle opener, by the way.<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Andrew Dickens<\/a> (@andrewdickens) on