In my practice I focus on coaching clients who are in some form of a life transition. I think of transitions as opportunities to reintegrate all that we have already been with all that we have the capacity and desire to become. Often such transitions take place during midlife, when we naturally assess our lives, both personally and professionally, and consider how we want to spend the next half.

The challenge in our culture is many don’t want to think of themselves yet as being in the second half, or midlife.   I know when I turned 50 I heard over and over that it was really just the new 30. Then there’s that pesky word that often follows the word midlife and that’s crisis.

The Chinese symbol for the word “crisis” is a combination of two words: “opportunity” and “danger”.   It’s an intriguing duality and one that can be taken as an exciting challenge or something to be feared and avoided.

Why is this? [Read more…]