Do you know what I
mean when I say that someone is “middle-aged”? If you are “middle-aged” you are
probably 40 years old or older. You have stopped being interested in pop music.
You don’t go to night clubs any more. You have sold the motor-bike which you
drove all around Europe a few years ago. You no longer share a flat with six of
your student friends.
Instead, you are
married, with children. You have bought a house in the suburbs. You lie awake at
night worrying about the mortgage. You own a boring but
practical car – aFord Focus perhaps. The car
is full of the children’s things. They have left sticky sweets on the seats and
empty crisp packets on the floor.
You now play golf instead of going to football matches. Worst of all, your hair
is going grey, and you have started to put on weight. (To put on weight” is a
polite way of saying that you are getting fat!) Welcome to middle age!
Now, please don’t
confuse “middle age” with the expression “the Middle Ages”. “The Middle Ages”
means the period of European history from roughly the 11th century to the 15th
century. In those times most people died before they were 40, so they never
became middle-aged. Or perhaps they became middle-aged earlier than people do
today.
Some people,
particularly men, reach middle age and become unhappy and dissatisfiedwith their lives. The years seem
to go by more and more quickly. Life has become boring. Yes, you have a
well-paid job, but it does not feel like an exciting or worthwhile job. You
have too many responsibilities. You want to be young
and free again.
If you feel like that
when you are middle-aged, we say that you are suffering from a “mid-life
crisis”.
.jpg)
Post a Comment