What is the single insight that most changed your life?
This question was posted on Quora, the popular Q&A forum, where anyone can post and answer any question. This one question resonated with dozens of people. But one person, Marshall Karp, tapped the midlife Zeitgeist in a way others had not.
Readers discovered they were not alone in their struggle to make sense of their lives and that a "midlife crisis" strikes people at every age, whether 24 or 54. I wrote about the quarter-life crisis here.
One young man said how important it is to remember to keep living consciously.
Another person wrote:
"I navigated ... a so-called midlife crisis in my late thirties lasting into my early forties. Looking back after many years of therapy and much introspection ... I would prefer to call it a spiritual crisis."
I believe midlife is an opportunity to resurrect oneself from the mire of matter and to strive for balance and simplicity.
I'm impressed with the depth of experience people were willing to share. Each memory represents a thread from someone's life, creating a beautiful mosaic.
As the "upvotes" and prolific sharing can attest -- the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.
