Spoke to a friend last week who told me about a man of fifty-seven. A typical tale for a corporate soldier in America today. He's tired, bored and wonders where the time went.
The financial crisis happening here and around the world is taking a toll on investment accounts, retirement accounts and faith (if we still have that) in how our governments work. But what about the man, or woman, of fifty-seven who sees only few options left (no, the answer is not held in the mind of Obama or McCain)?
I have written before about the toll that ten, twenty or thirty years of poor leadership can have on followers. Now we're beginning to see the shift economically, which usually is the first crisis before the other shift can happen. That shift is where people have to discover/rediscover who they really are, and it doesn't happen without a crisis.
The way up is the way down.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I don't get as bent out of shape by crisis. He wrote the story, I live it out. A beautiful, tragic, happy, fluid, exciting epic with my name on it. After forty-two years, I've seen and experienced so many crises that I now see them as part of the plot.
Regardless of your age, you will face a crossroads where reinvention beckons. You can ignore it, but just know that more of who you are and what you do will become gray. If you accept the reinvention invitation you might find that the next chapter is ready to be played out.