Midlife Crisis and The Inspiration

This economic downturn has been tough on many of us. For the first time in my life, I was caught in between jobs. The company I had help found ran out of money, and had us all scrambling for what to do next. In any other time, this would be a non-issue, there would be a line of companies and people pulling me in every direction, and it would simply be a matter of choosing the best opportunity. Not this time. Nobody was hiring, and everyone was looking for a job.

I have been in the high-tech industry for many years, doing essentially the same thing, with different roles. To be honest, I've always questioned if being an engineer is my true passion, or if there's something else. I've coached and worked with kids since I graduated from high school, throughout college, and part of my engineering career. All told, I did that for over a decade, because it was my passion. After that ended, I've known that I needed a new passion. Well, the company I was with gave me an opportunity to chase it. I was in charge of building an engineering team from scratch. Go find the people, interview them, train them, and make them a profitable part of our business in a few years. Perfect! I recruited 4 great kids out of college, and spent the next few years mentoring and training them. It was a cross between my passion of coaching and working with kids, and my engineering profession.

But then, it all came to an end. And with it, questions about my true passion again. This time it was really different. Engineering is so limited and so focused. And it didn't help in my search for health and happiness. The engineering career I chose was a sedentary one, full of people who ate horribly and didn't take care of themselves. I've always tried to balance, but the inertia is tough to overcome, and like before, I tend to get swept up if the pressures of work take over. I found myself full-on into my midlife crisis, and I had literally no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Can you imagine? My father died when he was 56 years old. So, if I'm to follow the same path, I have not that many years left, to live with my kids and my family. And I'm alone, with no direction whatsoever, and no passion in sight.

I went to Las Vegas for a quick vacation with my wife. We went spontaneously, as we are apt to do, and I was reading a book called "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman. Great book, by the way. I'll discuss more about it in another post. We're having breakfast, and for whatever reason (maybe it's the book I just read!), I start looking around to see what people are eating. I see three middle-aged men ordering huge amounts of pancakes, waffles, bacon and sausage, coffee, juice, you name it. One of them says to the other, "Oh my god, that dish is insane!" when the waiter brings out a massive waffle with syrup and assorted stuff on top. The guy polished it off in a few minutes.

Then I look across the room and I see a nice gentleman with his companion. He was dressed very well, pressed white collared shirt with an expensive tie, fitted slacks and polished shoes. But, he is overweight, grossly so. He's hunched over filling himself with coffee, juice, and more bacon and sausage, and whatever pancake or waffle filled with whatever he could find. He is struggling to eat and overeat, and I felt for him. I almost wanted to go up to him and talk about what I read, and just understand why he was eating the way he was, and to try and educate him.

I looked around some more, and saw the same thing with nearly everyone. My goodness, is there anyone out there who cares about themselves and what they eat? For the record, I ordered a very large plate of fresh fruit, leaving the cut strawberries as is on the plate, because I didn't know if they were organic. Those who have read Dr. Fuhrman's book will get that. For me, it was a very fulfilling breakfast that carried me over to lunch without snacks, and in the 108 degree Vegas swelter. Moreover, my mid-life crisis was solved! I looked at my wife and I said, "I think I've found it!" And after 10 minutes of intense discussion with her, I had a new passion, something I know will carry me for the rest of my life...