Life is definitely an adventure and a few years back I decided to change the course of mine and add a little more adventure. I have been in the financial planning and insurance business for more than 25 years and for the most part had enjoyed the profession.

What I really valued were my clients, the people I was able to serve and solve problems for. Over the years I have tried a lot of things in search of what makes me truly happy, and since I continue to evolve, so do my desires.

As a man in American society I have observed that most of us settle into some type of “career” by our thirties. It may be a vocation that was decided for us by parental pressure or one that we either knew we wanted or one that we just fell into. I was in the last category, so it wasn’t really by design just by chance.

By our late forties or early fifties, some of us feel the need to make a change, and sometimes it’s a drastic one. This phenomenon has been called a mid-life crisis by some, but I’d like to think of it as just another phase in the ebb and flow of our adventurous existence.

Desires change as life progresses, so why can’t career paths? It’s not really a crisis, just a need to fill a void that has opened up due to boring repetition. We can’t do the same thing over and over again without becoming complacent at some point. The need to feel excited about what you do when you wake up in the morning becomes important again.

More often than not, it’s not the job that lost its zest, it’s that you’ve lost the zest for the job.

I like the fact that I’ve arrived at this time in life and I’ve accepted my seeking change as a way to look forward with vigor. Learning to follow my spirit and listen to my heart was the hard part.

We’ve all heard that the male of our species are the hunter-gatherers and that we explore in order to fulfill our lives. But, somewhere along the way we lost our way, we stopped hunting and stopped exploring and got stagnant. The mid-life experience is simply those old traits re-surfacing, seeking change and challenging ourselves to explore life once again until it looks bright and exciting.

By no means do I want to leave women out of this equation either. Given the state of women in the workplace or home today, they can and are making these kinds of changes too. As never before women are finding creative ways to add fulfillment to their lives through self-employment or seeking the job of their dreams.

Women have for eons handled multi-task environments and with the advantages of the telecommunications era they have added the computer, cell phone and Blackberry to their bag of tools to do more things from home and office.

I used a word in the previous paragraph that sums-up the reason that I made my changes, it was creativity. I have always been an expressive individual, but finding the ways to exert that expressiveness and creativity was the hard part.

During the past I’ve tried: improve-comedy, performing as a disc jockey, photography, writing, adventure travel, acting, video production, mountain climbing, car racing, long-distance cycling just to name a few. And what I found was I am always looking over the next hill for that next fix of adventure and a chance to express my creativity.

Becoming stagnant in life is a choice and so many of us make that decision without really knowing it. Daily existence settles into a very comfortable, if not boring place, and it becomes easy to stay that way.

Fear of change also holds us back, but I’ve got to tell you the fear is just another excuse and down right easy to overcome once you make the decision to affect change. It’s the getting started that’s tough.

It took me three years to finally make the jump and that was after ten years of feeling that I needed to do something different. Ok, so I’m also a procrastinator, well, at least I used to be. The thrill of change and the activity that comes with it make you want to move forward with a smile.

Happiness is the end result of this exercise. You re-define yourself, and in doing so, you discover what makes you happy… for now. Expect that to change too, but look forward to the changes because they will revitalize you in ways you never imagined.

By living in the moment you see who you are and what you need, then it’s up to you to fulfill those needs. And no matter what your age if it’s change that will make you happy, by all means step up to the plate, you’ll be glad you did.

Anyway you look at it, it’s fun to ponder.

Keith E. Renninson is a motivational speaker and co-author of the popular parenting tool and illustrated storybook “Zooch the Pooch, My Best Friend”. Through the 1990’s with much self-examination, academic study, bicycle racing, and mountain climbing, he discovered a renewed zest of life, which included a love of metaphysics, philosophy, humor, and writing and speaking. As Keith says, “Some days you’re the pigeon and some days you’re the statue… it’s all in what you make of it.” You can read more about “Zooch the Pooch” or contact Keith to speak at: http://www.zoochthepooch.com

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