It's a Mid-Life ADVENTURE not Crisis

When I was younger and listening to conversations I shouldn't have been...I remember hearing people say "so & so is having a mid-life crisis"  I assumed mid life crisis meant a man or woman were cheating on their spouse, neglecting their kids, buying a new Corvette or Harley, getting tattoos and hanging out at bars.  As I've reached the ripe age of 40 and now have an empty nest I find myself wondering about things I never have before, wanting to try new things...the first time these things came to mind I thought "DAMN, I'm having a mid-life crisis!"

Midway through the second week of my new empty nester status, I realize it's not a Mid Life Crisis, it's a Mid Life ADVENTURE....I wouldn't trade the past 18 years and college brat for anything in the world, she is the sun in my universe.  She brought the beauty of unconditional love into my life, the beauty of being a parent and the beauty of seeing that gorgeous SMILE everyday and knowing I helped create it. When I found out I was pregnant, I made the decision to dedicate 18 years solely to her so I could be the best parent possible, because I didn't want her to become the stereotypical troubled child of a single parent. In doing so that meant I put my social life, as I knew it, on hold and that my friends would all now become people I met through her activities and school, it meant no dating, no hanging out in clubs, it meant all I was and all I did was for her and I LOVED every minute of it.   I do need to point out I have made a few incredible lifelong friends through college brat and love them dearly!!!

I digress...on to the point of this blog....Since I've been in the "good momma" role for so long and now living the single life...I have found there are tons of things I haven't done that a lot of people do when they are "younger" and single.  I do have a tattoo (got it at 30 yrs old) and a nose piercing (got it this year at 40 yrs old) I know I want another tattoo, but there are also other things I've never tried that I have decided I want to try, some are wickedly naughty and some are typically normal, like road trips across the country.  So far I've just sat at my place and read, relaxed..at first I thought I was being a lazy bum, but then I though WAIT for the past 18 years it has been go-go-go non-stop...I deserve a couple of weeks to totally veg out.

So yes, I have decided Mid Life Crisis isn't the appropriate term, it should be Mid Life ADVENTURE because so many of us have devoted our 20's and 30's to raising kids and/or being married and then BAM starting around the age of 40, find ourselves single, for couples just the two of you rambling around with maybe not much in common since the kids are gone and all of us living in an empty nest, which can be lonely. So it's our right to make a list of things we haven't done, but want to do and start the MID LIFE ADVENTURES we EARNED !!!

What are some things you want to do or that you have done in your MID LIFE ADVENTURE???