Mid-Life Crisis, Part 1

Mid-life crisis is real, people. Cleaning my bathroom today reminded me of that fact. Mid-life crisis is a state of mind not a number on a calendar. I've been through several. I think that we all want to feel, at the end of it all, that our life had meaning, purpose and even adventure. Cleaning the bathroom, which no one does for me but me (in defense of my husband we have a deal where I clean the bathrooms, he cleans/services our cars), is rote, repetitive and darn right unadventurous (unless you count finding a hidden dust ball).

If I was the mythological, good Christian wife, I would be cleaning the bathroom with joy and a smile. And really, after some of my international travels, I really am joyful that I even have a bathroom with plumbing to clean. I am even happy that I do the bathrooms and my husband does the cars; to me that's a fair deal. So I get it. I really do. I am blessed. But...........

Yeah, the big "but." The beginning of a new year always gets me to thinking about the innumerable possibilities ahead. It's all psychological. We can choose to think of fresh starts any time of the year, but January is very symbolic of a clean slate, a fresh start, the beginning of a new circle of time. And that stirs my proverbial mid-life crisis.

Having grown up an "Army brat" I am used to frequent changes. New homes, new friends, new venues, new adventures, new, new, new. I like change. I like new. It's in my genes. So periodically I find myself aware of my routines, my schedules, my everyday life and I begin to feel a little, well, chained. I look at my January calendar and it's already full of meetings and events that occur like clockwork every week. And that's the quandary that I'm in.

I really do like the reasons for those regular meetings and events. They just get in the way of free, rambling, unrestricted time. I really do like serving God in a way that I think He has directed me. But I know He knows me and the desires of my heart. I feel the faint breeze of impending change ahead. What, I don't know. When, I don't know. I do know that I want to be God-honoring in my life's walk.