Finding Opportunity in Age Panic
Age panic is common in the workplace. On the contrary, those who have been living a full and self-fulfilling life will not panic because of their age. In the face of aging, look at it from a different perspective - "crisis" = "danger" + "opportunity".
Irving Aron, tenured professor emeritus of psychiatry at Stanford University, describes in his novel When Nietzsche Weeps that Dr. Blair was 40 years old when he became infatuated with a young female patient.
Thereafter, he often dreamed that the earth suddenly melted under his feet and he fell to the cold ground. Later, he realized that both his yearning for the young female patient and his nightmares were rooted in his fear of reaching the age of forty.
This story is a graphic account of the "age panic" that is common in the workplace: the anxiety of seeing more and more "under 35" in the recruitment requirements, the worry about the prospects of not being able to compete with energetic young people, and the psychological conflict between having children and getting promoted. According to the statistics of a consulting company, 86.5% of the more than 3,000 visitors have age panic, and people around 35 years old are the most serious.
Age panic in the workplace is related to the great social changes, rapid updating of knowledge and rampant materialism.
The deeper reason is, as in the case of Dr. Blair, the fear of losing years, not having a chance to succeed, and not being able to live the truest version of oneself.
However, people who have been living full, self-actualized lives do not panic because of age. In the face of aging, it's good to look at it differently - "Crisis" = "Danger" + "Opportunity". First, look inward and ask yourself why you're panicking, and use this to sort out your life and see if you're going off the beaten path.
"Secondly, understand that while fame and fortune are things to strive for, over-valuing them can be counterproductive. Instead of focusing on what you don't yet have, focus on making the most of the present moment. Once again, rather than consuming energy and aging to do pointless struggle, it is better to cultivate the inner. Confidence, gentleness and intellectual charm are not bound by age. Finally, with experience to help young people, can also make life more complete.
