Looking Back to Look Ahead
Finding Resilience in Midlife Through the Looking Glass of Adolescence
I had a recent assignment to create a graphic visual of my own journey through adolescence. I was not sure I would be able develop a decent representation as it has been a while since I was an adolescent! However, once I got started, things started emerging and I was able to remember and connect things that I believe helped shaped the middle-aged woman I am. The assignment called for using the image of a tree, and I feel like this helped to point out the overarching growth made through the transition from childhood to adulthood.
We each face our own experiences, both internally and externally, which help shape our adult outlooks and responses. About two years ago I asked a counselor if there is a stage, phase, or cycle in middle age that resembles what we go through in younger stages, particularly in adolescence. I have often heard, and observed, that two-year-olds and young teens are going through the same basic stage or cycle of development. And as I get older and the people in my circle get older, I have wondered if there is some cycle of human development that correlates middle age with adolescence. I know as I hit perimenopause and menopausal years, I found myself feeling like I was 12 again. Not a feeling of youth, but of unsure, confusion, hormonal fluctuation, crying, and not understanding what all was happening with my changing and aging body and mind. While 12-year-olds generally have some sort of lessons and information on what is going on with their bodies, I have not heard much of that for middle aged adults.
It’s been interesting. And I am still doing my own homework on these things. It is heartening to hear more and more study and research being done on later stages of life, particularly regarding perimenopause and beyond. As much as I did not want to look back through my adolescence for this assignment, I do think it helped uncover a thread that weaves throughout life; one that I can continue to sew into my life experiences as I grow, age, and traverse the journey of life. I like to call that thread Resilience.
