Introduction
The middle age is the stage of life past young adulthood but prior to the beginning of old age. The period is between the ages of 35-60 and it is said to be the third quarter of the lifespan of a person. The human body goes through various changes including health, physical development, marriage and leisure activities. Most people at this stage in life begin to revisit their life activities and at times may question what it all means. At this stage, one begins to involve themselves with meaningful activities and matters that relate to family. One takes the roles of taking charge of their life something one never took seriously before. The person in this stage also feels the need to create a conducive environment for the people around and finds pleasure in taking care of other people. The person feels the need to form a stable relationship as well as take care of the family. This paper looks at the challenges that people go through during middle life and how to avoid them.
Main body
In the period of middle adulthood, most people will have been married at least once in their life. At this stage, most people also declare that they have achieved marital satisfaction more than they had done at the stage of young adulthood. This fulfillment increases afterward by the fact that one achieves financial stability and less responsibilities of parenting when the children have moved out. Research has shown that most couples that are still married after the last child has left the house will most likely remain married for at least 20 years. This is possible only if they had not planned to divorce after the child has left home. (Lachman)
However, middle age does not mean that a couple does not experience any problems in their marriage. In the United States, 50 percent of all marriages end up in divorce with an average period of the marriages being at least 7 years. These marriages end for various reasons including the case where the couples’ interests change and they go in different directions. Others couples feel they are incompatible while others cannot deal with problems in their relationship. Other cases include emotional stress as well as falling out of love. These marital problems are also evident in middle age couples and especially among those couple at their early forties. (Willis & Martin 402)
The understanding that evolves between two people over time can be wonderful. The perception of love among many adults is the idea of complete commitment, understanding as well as passion. In many middle adulthood marriages, passion weakens and for most of them the commitment and companionship grow stronger. The marriage is based on companionship without passion and thus they have to find ways to increase their passion and intimacy. Other couples find that their marriage has fallen apart due to lack of passion and closeness. The other problem that may occur in the marriage is if the couple may base the relationship on fascination with the assumption that love will take care of all marital crisis. This will create more problems as they have not learnt to solve their problems well. When this happens and passion fades away, the marriage results in unhappiness and this leads to divorce. (Willis & Martin 408)
The marriages in middle adulthood have become more common but couples who have been married for long time are not likely to divorce. In the event of a divorce it is very painful and especially to the women. This is because they not only experience psychological problems but also the problems of financial strain since they had invested so much in the marriage. This also affects the children because they had not prepared themselves to the separation of the parents. (Lachman)
The development stages in the middle adulthood through Eriksson’s’ Genarativity and Stagnation theories have been very excusive. Individuals at this stage in life try to find ways to help other people especially their children. Those that do not have children concentrate on their careers and when they are inactive, they feel worthless in terms of their family activities and commitments. The middle adulthood give importance to knowledge as well as physical strength. In this case, an individual who does not have physical strength feels that knowledge is replaced with the lack of physical strength. They also feel the need to socialize and make new friends in the case where they feel they are aging and one uses past knowledge to solve current issues. (Generativity & Stagnation)
In the middle adulthood, an individual accesses the past life and tries to make changes by making better decisions. One becomes more determined to achieve the youthful dreams they had in a realistic manner while making creative ideas and choices. Other people at this stage prefer the safe method of living comfortable lives while others keep themselves well organized and active. In the late fifties, individuals who did not go through mid life crisis start to experience it while those in their late sixties start to prepare for adulthood. This mid life crisis may cause one to be stressed in their life and pose a danger of psychological trauma. It is important that those who are in the mid life crisis get the right protection and care that is required. Others are affected by the onset of menopause causing them to be stressed and leave them feeling inadequate. (Lachman)
Women who are at the middle age stage start to feel burdened by the many responsibilities of work, children as well as financial strain. They also feel the need for protection by being in stable marriages with a caring partner in their life. Those women who are not independent make their marriage and family as their priority while those who are independent experience marital problems and become very organized in their work places. However, these women possess great self-confidence and they help their children achieve their dreams in the careers they choose. They are flexible and adapt to different situations within family and their career goals. (Generativity & Stagnation)
At this stage, people stay close to their partners and the marital fulfillment takes a U- shaped curve. The fulfillment increases when they are newly wed, decreases while they are raising children and increases again in the period of late adulthood. The couples at this time may be able to create leisure activities to give them fulfillment and happiness. Leisure in a marriage helps reduce stress and allows the parents to be energized. This will allow the couples to bond and strengthen the marriage as well as keep their love alive. This is very important to the middle adulthood marriage because they will be required to keep the relationship from being boring and thus avoid a divorce. (Cliffs Notes)
Middle-aged people also experience changes in their health issues including showing signs of aging, lack of skin suppleness as well as their hair graying. The body physical fitness may decline and increased body fat while strength and flexibility also reduces. The fertility levels also decrease in both male and female as they age. This can pose a danger to women especially in their late fifties in case they become pregnant such as miscarriages. The children also because of old age may be affected in terms of their health such as mental problems or the problem of Down syndrome. (Berger 620)
In many cases, the middle-aged people may also have a problem with maintaining friendships because of the many responsibilities they have and hence they do not have time to socialize. This leads them to have only a few close friends whom they value. Others have only the workmates as their friends as well as the retired people. Although the middle adulthood people have very few friends, they cherish them and do not try to get into fights with their friends. In this way, they are able to maintain their social friends and feel important in the society. (Cannon)
Conclusion
One thing that I have learned about middle life is that it is a very volatile time in ones life. This is the time when many marriages are built and broken. The information I have learned should help me deal with any pitfalls that may come my way. It is important for families to stick together during this crucial time since the problems they will be undergoing will definitely be overcome after the kids have grown up. Middle age is also a time to reflect on the mistakes that one has done and make atones for ones mistakes.
Works Cited
Berger, Stassen.K. The developing person through the life span, (6th Ed.).Worth Publishers 1.1(2004):589-667.
Cannon, Mary.” Contrasting Effects of Maternal and Paternal Age on Offspring’s Intelligence” Public Library of Science. 2009. Web.
Cliffs Notes. Crisis in Middle Adulthood: Age 45–65.n.d. Web. 2009.
Generativity & Stagnation. Middle Adulthood.n.d. Web. 2009.
Lachman (2004), “Development in Midlife”, in Annual Review of Psychology. 2004. Web.
Willis, L.S. & Martin, M.Middle adulthood: a lifespan perspective, (Ed.). SAGE 1.1(2005):389-425.