Thanks for sharing. The 40s are hard! For me, after dealing with a particularly stressful situation at work recently and bringing all that stress home with me, I decided to turn over a new leaf. I have cut down alcohol (maybe 1 drink a week now, if any), focused on my strength training and nutrition, and made a conscious choice to handle stressful situations more calmly to preserve not only my mental health but the happiness of my family who is affected by my stress.This was a great conversation to read as I'm dealing with many of the same things (mid forties, declining health of my parents, raising kids, stressful job where I've been repeatedly told that I am expected to be "on call" at all times, long commute, poor eating, excessive drinking, terrible sleep patterns, no exercise, etc.) I suppose I have been unable to balance my priorities. I get a lot of advice from my DW that I should "push back" at work and "carve out time" but it is very hard to take, especially since her job has nearly infinite flexibility. I'd like to find a way to pull back on work, but I feel like it would require a major career change. I have somewhat of a 'golden handcuffs' situation, but the golden part has actually allowed me to stash away a decent sized portfolio that should provide some level of flexibility and independence. Of course, there's the alternative that I keep plugging away at the job and summon the willpower to start waking up at 5am and prioritizing health. There are definitely many of my peers who seem to do this with incredible discipline.
I actually love my job but it’s high pressure/high expectations so I realize the importance of not allowing it to take over my whole life. My DD said to me recently: “How can I get you to stop stressing out all the time? I’m going to college soon and I want to spend time with you when you’re not thinking about other things.” That hit home hard.
Life is short. Get out of bed at dawn if you have to to exercise (it’s worth it!), eat right, make space for hobbies and down time no matter how impossible it might seem, get off your phone and read a book, take deep breaths, be grateful for what you have. This is my philosophy and I’m much happier for it. A long way to go, but as they say, every journey begins with the first step. Good luck!
Statistics: Posted by meadowrue — Wed Apr 17, 2024 5:40 am — Replies 68 — Views 9085