If there’s one word that summarizes this stage of life for GenX’ers, it’s “transitions.” 

And if there were a mixtape of chart-topping songs that epitomizes the transitions we’re experiencing in our mid-40’s to late 50’s, it might sound like this:

• Let’s Get Physical:  Struggling to prioritize our physical health in the midst of other demands on our time and energy. 

• I Want Your Sex:  Riding the waves of hormonal changes.

• Take This Job and Shove It:  Wanting to change careers, start a business, or muster the will to ride it out until retirement. 

• You’re the Inspiration:  Finding meaning and purpose as our priorities shift. 

• She Works Hard for the Money:  Organizing finances around putting kids through school, caring for parents, saving for our retirement or later years, traveling more, or paying off debt.  

• 9 to 5:  Longing for more “work/life balance.”    

• Spirit in the Sky:  Feeling a pull to connect to something larger than ourselves or find a deeper meaning to life. 

• I Will Always Love You:  Experiencing changes in our romantic relationships, navigating being single, or learning how to date after becoming single again.  

• On the Road Again:  Longing to travel more.  

• I Want to Break Free:  Noticing a shift away from our hold habits and patterns toward more authenticity, creativity, and freedom.  

Whether you call this stage “midlife,” “middle life,” “middle age,” “prime of my life,” or “who cares what it’s called,” something about the transitions we’re experiencing right now hits differently than transitions from other stages of our lives.  For me, these transitions have a sense of urgency or weightiness, coupled sometimes with excitement and uncertainty.  

So to guide us through this chart-topping list of transitions in your 40s and beyond, I’ve curated a list of nostalgic quotes from other GenX’ers or our formative childhood years.  

“Ok, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” - Jack Swigert, Apollo 13

Before you move through any transition, you have to first become aware of what you’re up against.  What is the obstacle?  What’s the issue you’re facing?  Ignoring, dismissing, or slapping a silver lining on a situation won’t make the problem, obstacle, or struggle go away.  So identify it and name it.   Often naming the problem can take away some of the power it has over you. 

“All of us, at some time or other, need help.” - Fred Rogers

Asking for help isn’t usually a GenX strength thanks to the messages we received that asking for help equates to weakness.  And, as Mr. Rogers reminds us, every single one of us needs help at one time or another.  Asking for help may feel uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean we want to avoid it.  It might help to find a small way to ask for help with something else, and then build up to bigger “asks.”  If your request for help is rejected, don’t take it as a sign that you shouldn’t ask for help…take it as a sign that you may want to find someone else to ask.   

“Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.” - Yoda 

GenX’ers have spent four or five decades building up a heaping pile of judgments and perspectives.  To move through transitions with more ease and grace, we want to identify the perspectives and judgments that hold us back rather than propel us forward.  Put the pride and stubbornness aside and ask yourself, “What else could be true about this situation that I’m not seeing?” Or “What’s a more helpful perspective that I could bring to this situation?”   

“Believe in yourself and all that you are.  Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” - Florence Griffith Joyner

GenX’ers often struggle with confidence and inherent worthiness because we weren’t encouraged growing up to find those deep internal sources of power.  When we can tap into a deeper wellspring of power within us that is always there and never changes, we can find a sustainable source of fuel to move through transitions with more ease and grace.  So start by noticing whether you feel disconnected from your own inherent worthiness.  If so, challenge that sense of unworthiness.  Look back on your life to recall situations where you felt worthy or confident, and use those as evidence of the deeper worthiness that lies inside you.   

“Your true character is revealed when you're facing adversity.” - Oscar De La Hoya

Transitions often are filled with unpleasantness or pain.  In fact, life is and always will have pain . . . there’s no way to avoid that.  But, we can change how we respond to that pain and adversity.  When we learn to face adversity, accept its presence rather than resist it, and move forward anyway, we are able to develop resilience for the future.  Begin to turn toward the adversity of any transition you’re facing and ask yourself, “what am I resisting about this situation, and how could I create more acceptance around it?” The point isn’t to make the adversity go away; rather, by creating acceptance around the adversity, we stop using our energy to resist “what is.”  Then, we can free up that energy to find a creative path through the adversity.   

“I’m a big child at heart. I think it’s important to stay that way and not lose the wonder of life.” - Pam Grier

We are never too old to approach life with the curiosity of a child.  Embracing our GenX childhood sense of wonder, freedom, and play can support us in developing a different perspective on the transitions in front of us. This sense of child-like wonder also can counterbalance skepticism and pessimism that may set in as we venture down the path of transitions.  So reflect on your childhood and think of a time when you were filled with wonder or curiosity. Then allow that sense of curiosity to take root within you and open you up to possibility.  

“Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.” - Casey Kasem

This quote is a wonderful invitation to bring in the practice of mindfulness.  Mindfulness can ground us in the present moment so that we’re not clinging to expectations or worrying about a million possible outcomes.  Being grounded in the present moment doesn’t mean that we sit back and wait for the future to unfold; rather, by keeping our feet on the ground where we are, we can choose a path forward from a place of wise, calm response instead of from a place of reactivity.  Mindfulness teaches us that we can both ground ourselves on the earth, while still reaching up toward the sky.  

What are some other quotes that may help you move through the transitions that you’re facing as a GenX’er?  

Michele L. Walter is a Certified Professional Coach, Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, and owner of Life From The Summit, Mindfulness and Coaching. She writes about topics that speak to the forgotten GenX’ers who have spent the first part of their lives forging a path to success, only to now realize that they’ve lost themselves along the way. Michele is passionate about guiding these lost and restless 40/50-year-olds back to themselves and what deeply matters to them, so that they can forge a brave new path forward. If you like this article, please consider sharing it or even supporting Michele’s work by buying her a coffee. And come join the Life From The Summit journey to receive weekly insights, resources, and tips.