Identity – The Power of finding your true self in mid-life.

If you search the Oxford Dictionary for the word identity you will find that identity is defined as “A phenomenological sense of oneself as a separate individual being with a distinctive personality and a 'true self' persisting over time; a self-image” or it can be put in more simple terms “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”. But in this complicated, ever-changing, and fast-paced world we live in what is identity to us and how does this changeover time as we age?

For many of us with each birthday that we are lucky enough to celebrate we see the number of candles increasing on the cake but our brains and younger selves often struggle to comprehend the fact that we are getting older which often leaves us asking ourselves “Who am I now, and what is my true identity as I pass from one age or stage of life to another”. In more recent times these very questions that we used to ponder as we lie awake at night have now been given life by those around us including friends, family, and celebrities in the media who are more openly discussing them.

Changes In Our Bodies & Minds

For some of us when we are younger our identity feels like it is built into our bodies, we are the basket baller, net baller, tennis player, swimmer, or dancer and this identifies us with a sense of purpose and strength.We are the team member or the individual contributor striving for success and our identity felt like it was tied to it.

But as we age our identity often shifts many times to partner, mother, or carer as we place our needs at a lower priority as we ensure that all the needs of others in our lives are met.

In mid-life changes in our physical bodies and our mindsets really put us at a crossroads and who we see in the mirror is often not who we identify with, and questions inevitably arise about who I want to be in this next stage of my life.

For some, this question may also result in changes in relationships, and friendships and shift the very meaning of our identity as we seek to live within our true selves. There is also a greater sense of freedom associated with this change in identity as we can live without fear of judgment.

The Good News Ahead

The good news is that we are seeing a true shift in how we perceive and identify with aging and women 50 and over are showing us all that we are more ambitious, active, and more influential than ever before. More importantly, the identity of being over 50 and that invisibility was a part of this stage is now not an identity that we need to be defined or boxed into.

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