Many people at midlife experience a great upheaval, discontent, depression, and a feeling that reality has not measured up to their expectations. When this crisis begins, some run as fast as they can from any further self-examination and settle for a new car or an affair with someone younger. For others, the second half of life offers a fresh search for meaning, a grappling with the soul, and a new start. These courageous souls are willing to step into the dark and leave the confines of what has always been sacred to them: comfort, security, their own lively fears, and the opinions of others. Such is the scenario painted by James Hollis, a Jungian analyst in private practice and executive director of the C. G. Jung Educational Center of Houston, Texas.
Those who retreat from the challenges of spiritual maturity in the second half of life have succumbed to feelings of overwhelmment and insufficiency. Hollis sees the first half of life as being driven by acquisition and the second half by relinquishment. This is expressed in the movie About Schmidt where a man retires, his wife dies, and he is forced to shed his old ways of thinking and acting as he hits the road in his mobile home. His one meaningful connection is with an orphan he supports in Africa.
As we age, we find ourselves becoming who we were meant to be. Baggage from the past and our intimate relationships may intrude: the habit of trying to prove ourselves to mom or dad; the challenge of what we have to lose in order to win the approval of others, and the fantasy of living through the one we love. Hollis is convinced that "the twin tasks of finding personal authority and finding a mature spirituality are inextricably linked." These offer an alternative to the ego's agenda.
Will the second half of life be free of troubles? Certainly not. But if we are able to reframe things, we will be able to handle whatever comes our way. One of the best rewards of this time is that when the soul asks us to live a larger life, we can respond with a heart-felt and jubilant "Yes!"
