I don't have kids and I'm in my mid-30s but your comment definitely resonates with me.
I have plenty of money but what I do miss the most is hanging out with my friends all day like we did in our teens. Unfortunately that routine is almost impossible to recapture until we're... 70? If we're lucky not to have drifted apart by then.
Like the tide it's unsurprising but can still take you by surprise - your happiness is so tied to other people's choices. For instance, I don't know how old your children are but it's almost guaranteed that as they get older, they'll spend less and less time with you.
To me that suggests a playbook of sorts: Enjoy this present moment but invest a bit of your energy in preparing for the next phase. Cultivate a few relationships that are independent of your kids and your spouse. Make sure you can fill the voids as people fade out of your day to day.
I have plenty of money but what I do miss the most is hanging out with my friends all day like we did in our teens. Unfortunately that routine is almost impossible to recapture until we're... 70? If we're lucky not to have drifted apart by then.
Like the tide it's unsurprising but can still take you by surprise - your happiness is so tied to other people's choices. For instance, I don't know how old your children are but it's almost guaranteed that as they get older, they'll spend less and less time with you.
To me that suggests a playbook of sorts: Enjoy this present moment but invest a bit of your energy in preparing for the next phase. Cultivate a few relationships that are independent of your kids and your spouse. Make sure you can fill the voids as people fade out of your day to day.