wonderful marriage hits midlife crisis

[TimeHeals]

I don't like the term MLC (like a lot of professionals in the field of psycology).

After all, it can happen at any age. Think of somebody who is constantly putting off enjoying the moment because they are building their career, raising kids, trying to buy a home, the right kind of cars, save for retirement and so on.

They spend a lot of time sacrificing today for future rewards, and in the meantime they aren't really enjoying themselves that much, but they keep that quiet because "things will be better".

Meanwhile, they look back more and more often and their growing resentment at never really feeling all that happy, but it's all going to get better right?

Then one day, they wake up, they have the house, the retirement account, the cars, and so on, and they still aren't happy. Now, they lose the dream, and the resentment and regret overwhelm them.

That's not a mid life crisis--that's a skewed perspective leading to a crisis and another skewed perspective no matter what you call it.

Drag in an affair and all bets are off it's even what I have described because most partners having affairs pull the crap you are talking about, and I don't care if they are 16 or 60.

As far as MLC goes, I like John Boyd's take on it which he developed when his parents suddenly divorced: "I resolved to have a mini mid-life crisis every couple of years instead of saving it all up for one big one".