'The Fear Factor'

Midlife Crisis – It's Not Just For Men

WORDS: ANITA KERR

I have reached the ripe young age of 40. How do I feel about it? More than a small bit terrified to be honest with you. I genuinely still feel about 18 and that doesn’t mean I look like Courtney Cox (two kids, the local Indian and a VAT of wine have put paid to that). What I mean is that I still feel that I’m only just starting out in life and yet at the same time it’s shooting past me in one helluva hurry.

Hitting 40 is like being walloped with a big fish. In your 30s you can still get away with not quite meeting your career expectations yet. You can also just about get away with going to Oxegen, wearing Converse and smoking the odd sneaky fag when you’re out with the girls.

At 40 you start getting that niggling feeling that you might possibly be cutting it fine on the old career front. Maybe you shouldn’t have enjoyed yourself quite so much in your 20s (and 30s); and if only you hadn’t left it so late to have those bloody kids, you’d be running the company by now goddammit.

Next thing you know, the little green monster makes an appearance. What possessed you to marry someone with an Arts Degree when you could be living the high life with Nigel from accounts? He may look like a bag of spanners but he’s positively loaded now. Before you know it you’re considering augmentation, buying a soft top MX 5 and hanging out near the Protein Shakes dispenser at the Gym to get a glimpse of Igor the new Spinning Instructor. In other words you are caught in the grip of a full blown midlife crisis – or ‘The Fear’ as I fondly call it now.

Read more about 'The Fear Factor' in the Summer 2010 issue of WMB, on newsstands now!