{"id":19032,"date":"2016-04-10T08:15:26","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T12:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=19032"},"modified":"2016-04-10T08:19:48","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T12:19:48","slug":"getting-over-the-hurdle-that-is-mid-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=19032","title":{"rendered":"Getting over the hurdle that is mid-life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><em><strong>Embrace change and know it gets better<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>By Kelly Hockenberry<\/strong>,<\/span> <span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><em>Columnist, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/KellyColumn415Newest815-251x300.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1331827\" src=\"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/KellyColumn415Newest815-251x300.jpg\" alt=\"KellyColumn415Newest815\" width=\"210\" height=\"251\" \/><\/a>I just celebrated a birthday with a \u201c5\u201d on the end. I don\u2019t like them as much, to be honest. Now I have to say that I\u2019m in my \u201cMID\u00adthirties\u201d and that just doesn\u2019t sound as good as \u201cearly 30\u2019s\u201d. (Oh shush. It\u2019s MY article. If I want to let people think I\u2019m 35, that is my choice. It\u2019s called poetic license.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Yesterday, while at the Kennett Y, sweating like crazy on the Stairmill to Hell (probably not the official name of that piece of equipment, but, appropriate nonetheless), I read an editorial piece in the opening pages of Glamour Magazine that gave me pause. The topic was the \u201cU\u00adBend of Happiness\u201d, essentially, a psychologically based notion that our level of happiness starts high in our youth, bottoms\u00ad out around mid\u00adlife (hence all the \u201ccrisis\u201d talk) and rises again as we age.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The very bottom of the U? Age 46. Hmmmm. Good to know. Actually, it explains a lot. In regard to my job experience as a family law attorney, the majority of clients seem to fall in this range. Although, if you have the good fortune to be in a happy relationship, there are plenty of other obstacles to overcome. Dealing with financial pressures, kids growing up and moving out (SOB!), aging parents (NOT you Mom and Dad), and job security are often cited issues that cause stress, anxiety, and unhappiness in this phase of life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">What to do? Experts say find a way to embrace change, reflect on the positives, and appreciate the small stuff. Easier said than done, but certainly worth the effort, I think. When I look around at my friends who are in the same boat, I realize that we\u2019re all just trying our best to adjust to the changes (physical, mental, and emotional) looming on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">I suppose the upside is the inevitable up\u00adturn in that letter U. I mean, it\u2019s something to look forward to. Could be worse&#8230;it could be a Z&#8230;and that doesn\u2019t sound nearly as fun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Happy Weekend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embrace change and know it gets better By Kelly Hockenberry, Columnist, The Times I just celebrated a birthday with a \u201c5\u201d on the end. I don\u2019t like them as much, to be honest. Now I have to say that I\u2019m in my \u201cMID\u00adthirties\u201d and that just doesn\u2019t sound as good as \u201cearly 30\u2019s\u201d. (Oh shush. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[2252,7321],"class_list":["post-19032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-change","tag-mid-life-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19032"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19033,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19032\/revisions\/19033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}