Mid-life Crises

[yanktar]

Life is short. Don't procrastinate on the good stuff.

I'm going to have wait a while to do that! :blink:

 

[Toecutter]

Wow, a lot of good reading here. Thank you all for sharing. Definitely some therapeutic value for me.

 

[FJRocket]

Another point, already made, is that I can finally AFFORD to do some of the things I want. As in disposable income. Isn't it wonderful that those of us on this forum can afford an extravegance like an FJR as well as other "things", let alone all the other terrific things we can enjoy in life because of our socioeconomic condition.

So I don't believe in "mid life crisis" per se, but continual life crises. And then there's the "never grew up to begin with" factor. Let's not even go there.

Ain't life grand?!

Anyone have a Lotus Elise they wanna part with? I don't need a super car, just a new 4 wheeled toy while I can still get some gas. Oh, and don't forget the '06 (or maybe '07) FJR. Still waiting for red. I'll take the Lotus in any color.

 

[Geezer]

Another point, already made, is that I can finally AFFORD to do some of the things I want. As in disposable income. Isn't it wonderful that those of us on this forum can afford an extravegance like an FJR as well as other "things", let alone all the other terrific things we can enjoy in life because of our socioeconomic condition.
So I don't believe in "mid life crisis" per se, but continual life crises. And then there's the "never grew up to begin with" factor. Let's not even go there.

Ain't life grand?!

Anyone have a Lotus Elise they wanna part with? I don't need a super car, just a new 4 wheeled toy while I can still get some gas. Oh, and don't forget the '06 (or maybe '07) FJR. Still waiting for red. I'll take the Lotus in any color.

There's a guy in my building with a new Elise. Very nice looking car. I understand that it is very light and handles like a Formula 1 car. The Toyota 6 cylinder in that light car probably gives very good power and decent mileage. Expensive though.....

And yes, having a few more disposable dollars helps a lot.

 

[RonBB]

And all along I thought that most of the above thoughts were my own. That I was the only one out there thinking them. This forum & it's members are a very good thing. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would have found this thread on a M/C forum. Thanks Guys

 

[oldlogdog]

The term "mid life crisis" is a misnomer...a relic of 1970's pop psychology... There is no "crisis" involved, no weakened state of duress with some pitiful longing to be young again. (It's just that ... man realizes his head's been up his ass...)

MLC? Hey, its just a funk we all go through every 10 years or so.

But there's an upside: its when you find the right antidote: sail accross the Atlantic, drive across the Sahara, upgrade to Wife 2.0, spend 2 years in Labrador, then next "crisis" in Africa, then in the Caribbean and to top all that, BUY AN FJR!!!

Worked for me! :devil: :cownoy:

:drinks:

 

[yanktar]

When I read that the chief designer of Lotus believed that the ideal race car would be SO minimalist that it would fall to pieces the instant it crossed the finish line, I figured I NEVER wanted to ride in a car HE built! :lol:

 

[brazos parker]

IMHO, I don't think it's a "mid-life crisis"...more like a "mid-life realization" or, in NASA terminolory, a "mid-course correction."

In my case, around 50, I realized I was not going to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company (not that I wanted to, but you get the point) and began planning for an early retirement.

At 56, just 11 days before I signed the retirement papers, I had a serious health problem, spent 4 weeks in ICU, 2 weeks in rehab and about 12-14 months regaining some semblance of my former self.

Made me realize what my life priorities should be.

While working, I had the money to do things but no time. Now, retired, I have the time but not as much money.

Then, out of the blue, an old friend called and asked me to ride to AK w/ him in the summer of 2006...on motorcycles. Bought a used YZF600 (FJR Jr. :haha: )to get back to riding after about a bazillion years and one career in between. Last May, sold the 600 when I got the FJR. Man, I love this bike and the exhilaration of riding.

Life is what happens while you're planning to do something else. I intend to enjoy what's left.

 

[gr8eyes]

I guess I'll have to wait for mine. It hasn't hit me yet. Too busy running a business and raising 4 kids.

 

[BULLIT MAN]

Well well. I once worked for a man who came from a country with no birth cert.He was the hardest working old man i ever knew 12 hr days.Iasked him how he did it.He said simply" IF YOU DIDNT KNOW HOW OLD YOU WERE HOW OLD WOULD YOU BE".Get off the dam keyboard go start your bike,and live.Some days i feel 25 and some days i feel 75. Im 46 so i guess i have lived enough life to have an opinion.im irish and sicilian.My irish grandpa used to say"eat drink and be marry for tomorrow you may die"......im adding eat drink,ride and be marry for tommorow....you all know thw rest........

 

[red2kcbr]

Not sure I put a lot of stock in the concept of 'mid-life crisis'. At least not for myself, anyway. I've ALWAYS kept a fast motorcycle in the garage. I've been riding for, gulp, 33 years. I've been a motorhead since I can remember. Not proud of that, just stating a fact.

Now, if you reach the age of 40 or so, and simply MUST own a Harley as your first motorcycle, then that might be a legitimate MLC. Or you go from a Point A to Point B minivan kind of guy to a new 'vette, well, that might be a real MLC.

To me, a mid-life crisis means a drastic change in behavior, completely out of character with the person you really are. The guy who drops his wife of 30 years to take up with young gold diggers is probably experiencing a mid-life crisis.

I think most people get over their mid-life crisis and go back to what makes them comfortable. If they don't go back, then it wasn't a crisis, it was an epiphany!

 

[Toecutter]

To me, a mid-life crisis means a drastic change in behavior, completely out of character with the person you really are.  The guy who drops his wife of 30 years to take up with young gold diggers is probably experiencing a mid-life crisis.

I'd agree with that. And I'd probably identify as well. After years of a less-than-perfect marriage replete with control and emotional abuse, I lost it not long after the death of a co-worker, six weeks before 9-11, which happened eight days before my best friend's girl made a play for me. I guess it was a little more than I could take at the time, but it stripped me to my core and I had to deal with everything or else. The marriage lasted another 18 months. Six months after the wife left town I started feeling normal again. Brenda was the first girl I met, and the rest is current events. The motorcycle had nothing to do with the crisis, it was more the reward to myself for getting well.

I think most people get over their mid-life crisis and go back to what makes them comfortable.  If they don't go back, then it wasn't a crisis, it was an epiphany!

I guess I had an epiphany then. Whatever it was, it all turned out good.