Midlife Purple Spirituality 6:What Do You Truly Believe?
We are back with Part 6 of Midlife Purple Spirituality. “Quest for the higher things in life; Quest for the Purple Spirituality.”
Have you read Part 5 of Midlife Purple Spirituality? Click below to read: [Midlife Purple Spirituality Part 5]
Revitalising
Now, let’s explore Part 6 and uncover deeper mysteries in navigating the road to Purple Spirituality.
By the time you reach this season of adulthood, you find yourself lugging around a heavy backpack full of old rules about how life ought to be lived. You have set ideas about how to build a career, how family life should look, how to practice your convictions, and what it actually means to be successful. Most of these rules were never things you sat down to choose for yourself. You picked them up naturally as you grew: from the way your parents raised you, the sermons you listened to, the traditions of your community, and the endless opinions pushed on social media every single day. For a long time, following these rules was automatic. It gave you structure, kept you out of trouble, and helped you feel accepted.
Then, life hits a specific turning point: a midlife friction point that shatters the script.
It often starts with a sudden disruption: a career setback or redundancy after years of loyalty, a quiet breakdown in a marriage you thought was secure, an unexpected health scare, or the heavy weight of caring for ageing parents while your own children are leaving the nest. Alternatively, it might be the quiet, haunting realization that despite achieving the title, the house, and the social standing, you are staring into an inner room of deep dissatisfaction. Suddenly, doing everything you were taught to do does not automatically protect you from hard times or internal turmoil. You find yourself working hard, doing all the "right" things, yet constantly feeling anxious or unfulfilled. That is when you realize: many of the rules driving your daily choices are not even your own; they are just old habits and expectations you inherited from other people that cannot carry the weight of your current reality.
Holding onto old ways of thinking simply because they are familiar will only leave you stuck, living a life designed by someone else. True personal growth begins when this midlife friction forces you to take a quiet step back and evaluate your mindset.Revitalising
How to Identify and Break Free From Outdated Rules
To move past the mental noise and start making conscious choices about what you stand for, here is a practical, step-by-step approach:
Test for Physical Resentment and Dread:
When midlife friction hits, do not try to analyze every thought in your head. Pay attention to your physical body instead. The moment you say "yes" to an obligation and instantly feel a knot in your stomach, a surge of irritation, or a wave of exhaustion, that physical reaction is your signal. It proves you are running on an outdated, inherited rule that no longer fits your life.
Practice the "Quick Note" Catch:
Internal reflection alone keeps thoughts trapped in an endless mental loop. You do not need a formal, time-consuming journal audit; you just need to catch yourself in the act. The next time you feel that surge of resentment during your day, pull out a piece of paper or open a note on your phone and write down two quick lines:
What am I doing right now that is draining me?
Whose rule told me I had to do it this way?
Deploy the 5-Second Pause:
Your default reaction for twenty years has likely been an automatic "Yes, I will handle it." Break the autopilot loop by mastering one sentence out loud: "Let me check my calendar and get back to you in an hour." Creating that physical gap gives your brain the space to choose out of real purpose rather than old conditioning.
Separate Inherited Ideas from Core Values:
Seeing your thoughts written down on paper strips them of their absolute power. It allows you to examine where your ideas came from and separate what is genuinely good for your current reality from the heavy burdens of guilt and fear you absorbed without thinking.
Clearing out old conditioning is how you make room for wisdom. Evaluating your mindset is not an act of rebellion, nor does it mean throwing away your core values. It gives you the freedom to drop the heavy expectations of society and family, and finally stand firm in what you know to be true for your own journey.
How have your perspectives shifted as you have navigated life’s unexpected turns? Have you caught yourself following an old rule that no longer works for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
For more practical insights on navigating personal growth and beliefs, read [Purple Spirituality 1] on the Midlife Encounters platform.
Comments