Life Study

The news report didn't clarify who conducted the study, how many subjects were included, how long the study took, or how much it cost ... but the results are so incredibly obvious that it's what I've always called a no-duh!

The study concludes that people in the early 40s are, for the most part, depressed. No duh!

You wanna know why? Here's my take:

The idealism of youth has melded with the realism of adulthood, and it's hard to accept that not all dreams come true, not all decisions are beneficial, not all aspirations are reached -- and the clock is ticking. There comes the day when the reality check occurs and each individual has either to accept what is or change it -- or have the wisdom to accept that what is is what's going to be.

Hence, the flurry of "late in life" children; the plethora of divorce; the torrent of job change; the ego-purchase of the sports' car; the therapeutic affair; the cosmetic plastic surgery. The list of symptoms is endless, but the syndrome is as old as time.

One day we realize we are no longer young, but we hope we're not yet too old to still have a life before we die. Today's society says "50 is the new 40," but it doesn't change the truth that there is a line we inevitably cross between "young" and "old," and when we come to it at whatever age is currently fashionable, it provides us with head-on contact with our mortality.

If I'm going to do it, I'd better do it before it's too late drives most of what happens in the 40s. If I go for it and it doesn't work out, how depressing; if I don't go for it and spend the rest of my life regretting the shoulda/ woulda/ coulda, how depressing; if I accept the status quo and just continue one day at a time, how depressing.

If, however, I accept that what I've done is what I've done, it's working out pretty well for me, and I'm going to stay steady on course--how fortuitous and how rare.

That's life.