Is It Too Early For A Midlife Crisis?

Maybe it is because I am turning another year older in two weeks or maybe because I did not grace the cover of Teen Beat magazine again this month or maybe I am just blue because I have cabin fever and the weather has not been cooperating. Whatever the case might be, I just feel like I am sleepwalking through life.
I pretty much have the same routine day in day out. Go to work, have my life force sucked out of me sitting in a cube for 9 hours a day, and then come home to get ready to do it all over again. I am not trying to sound ungrateful. I have a good job, I am healthy and Mrs. Shife is my best friend and a pretty awesome wife. We do well enough financially that we don't have to worry about too much and we pretty much have the coolest basset hound two crazy kids from Idaho could ever want.
It is like I am waiting for life to happen instead of making it happen.
I just don't feel like I am doing enough to feel alive. Maybe I need to do some bungee jumping or run nude through a supermarket or just get in the car and drive in one direction for a day. I don't know I just feel like I need a kick in the ass.
I am just thinking outloud here folks and I hope I am not bringing anyone down, but I just wanted to express my thoughts to my blogging buddies and I hope you have some great suggestions to pull me out of my funk.


P.S. I shit you not, but maybe 5 minutes later after Mrs. Shife read this entry and we were discussing how we are sleepwalking through life, there was a knock on the door. It was the Jehovah's Witnesses. Is somebody up there listening?

Comments

  1. Geeze, sounds like we need to stop worrying about the government bugging our homes and start worrying about the Jehova Witnesses...hee hee

    ALERT ALERT, MAN UPHAPPY WITH HIS LIFE AND LOOKING FOR A CHANGE AT 322 ELM STREET, GET BOB OVER THERE QUICK.

    I feel the same damn way. I spend way too much time having the life sucked out of me in a cube too, but like you I am letting life pass by and not doing a damn thing about it.

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  2. They'll try to reel you in with brownies and pamphlets - beware of both.

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  3. I'm sure you already have a pretty good idea of my outlook on life at this point, so I'll just say I'm in nearly full agreement here.

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  4. Hey man. I think everyone does this at one point or another. I know I went through it not to long ago.

    For me, the key is to do something different everyday. Be spontaneous. Be it a concert at the last minute, going out for dinner, playing hoops with some friends.

    I am a creature of routine and habit. I know that about myself. So whenever I have an opportunity to break out of that, I almost have to force myself to. Do that enough and blammo! There you are.

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  5. Life is short and our youth is a small window. Make the best of it and go out and have a blast!!! If someone told me I had a week to live, I can honestly say I have lived a fabulous life with no regrets.

    I am 35, I have been poor and I have been rich (rich is better)I have traveled the world, had lots of fun, lots of friends, lots of wild sex and lots of adventures. I was good to the ones I love and I always took care of animals in need. Not too shabby.

    I think you need to start that Bassett sanctuary now!

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  6. Handglide!!! One of my buddies that bungee jumped said that on the "jerk" his nuts ended up shoving themselves back up to his lungs.

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  7. I like your plan of running nude through a supermarket. Maybe I'll try that sometime

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  8. I completely agree. I feel like my life is just passing me by sometimes, and the things I wanna do are just sitting there, waiting for me to do them. Something keeps stopping me, though: Fear? Apathy? Resistance to change?

    I mean, other people have opened Bassett sanctuaries (your dream) and published children's books (my dream). What's stopping us, other than ourselves?

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  9. mm... hahah... jehovah's witnesses... it's just a coincidence.. cuz they're everywhere...

    could we ever be fully satisfied ??? (without wanting to sound like the JW...)

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  10. Bah, don't worry about it. At some point your health will turn to shit...then you get to die.

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  11. Even sleepwalking beats being a JW...

    Does the blog help. Shife? I know blogging is like crack and maybe not the best way to beat your rut, but is it helping? Just curious.

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  12. Anonymous4/10/2006

    I didn't know JW's used brownies. They never offered those in my old hood.

    Rest assured, you're in the MAJORITY on this sleepwalking thing, Shife. It's probably a product of The Man constantly beating the hell out of us for longer and longer hours each year. Weekends seem shorter and nobody has time for a vacation. We basically live to work rather than working to live.

    Unless you're insanely rich and never have to work a day in your life. I'm not terribly fond of those people.

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  13. th eGoddess sent them..she figured you needed a little discord...tomorrow it will be a telemarketer calling non stop...then there will be unexpected audit from the irs..shall i go on or are you having fun yet??

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  14. I forgot to mention it, but I'm also pretty sure that no one is listening, save for Big Brother, of course.

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  15. I've been feeling that way too. Sometimes you just need to spice your life up. Get out of your comfort zone, do something totally out of character (legal though). You are lucky in so many ways, and you appreciate that. All you have to do is have thee some fun!

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  16. I'm pretty sure it wasn't my mother in law that was knocking at the door. I believe you are just outside of her "witnessing" area.

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  17. Maybe you should start some new adventure or hobby other then running naked obviously. Or take some vacation time and travel? Hang in there old chap!

    Jehovah's Witnesses are just plain weird! I don't answer my door.

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  18. BTW, nothing wrong with running around naked, unless it is going to get you arrested.

    Pollyanna made a good point...what stops people from doing what they really want to do? I think it is alot of things such as fear, money, upbringing, and change. My dad raised me always saying the old saying, " What do you think you could accomplish in life, if you knew you couldn't fail?". It's true, and that is how I approach everything in my life.

    OK, I don't want to be confused with a crazy JW. I just believe in positive thinking and making things happen for me.

    Love you and hope you find it is what will take you out of your funk. Just don't become a JW.

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  19. Anonymous4/11/2006

    Up close and personal Jehovah's Witnesses can be wolves in sheep's clothing.

    Think about this-When the devil comes knocking on your door he may not have the 'dark goth look'.They could be smartly dressed and wielding the Christian Bible.

    I have Jehovah's Witnesses family in the usa who practice the Watchtower JW enforced ritual shunning that i have not seen or heard from in 15 years.

    The central CORE dogma of the Watchtower is Jesus second coming (invisibly) in 1914 and is a lie.Jehovah's Witnesses are a spin-off of the man made Millerite movement of 1840.

    A destructive cult of false teachings, that frequently result in spiritual and psychological abuse, as well as needless deaths (bogus blood transfusion ban).

    Yes,you can 'check out anytime you want but you can never leave',because they can and will hold your family hostage.

    The world has the Internet now,and there are tens of thousands of pages up from disgruntled ex-Jehovah's Witnesses like myself who have been abused by the Watchtower cult.

    Jehovah's Witnesses are often a mouth that prays a hand that kills.The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world.
    ----
    Danny Haszard former Jehovah's Witness X 33 years and 3rd generation www.dannyhaszard.com

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  20. The dang Jehoviah's Witnesses come to my house quarterly. Seriously, they stop at my house and then visit no one else in the neigbhorhood. I think I need to join the Jehoviah's Witness Protection Agency.

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  21. I feel the same exact way. I think it's the time of year. You want to go out and do stuff, but it's still kind of cold. You get all antsy and feel like a failure or like a boring sack of shit. I relate to that completely.

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  22. I think everyone is going through this or something like it right now. I think collectivly we are searching for a more meaningful way of going through life. We have solved the problem of hunger--it just isn't being applied. (ie, There is certainly enough food in the world for everyone.) We have conquered many diseases and feel confident that we will be able to "cure" all of them. And yet, our world is worse turmoil than ever and despite mass communications we often feel more alienated than ever. Time for a global change. I think you have a lot to offer and alot to give. Personally, I hope you are writing a book or script. I think you are awesome!!!

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  23. PS-- I think the JW's were a sign that many people are seeking iron-clad answers right now. Fanatics are the most scared and have the least faith. I think that was the sign, not that you should join a cult.

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  24. They could sense you having a crisis... all bulletin alert... converge on Mr and Mrs. Shife house NOW....
    It's never too early for a mid-life crisis. I had my first one at age 3. No really, I think we all go through that from time to time. Especially with Nissan and their commercials telling us we aren't having a life, etc.
    Or you can just have Blogger suck the life right out of you and perhaps get a new life. Don't listen to me, I'm an insane, pissed off rambling idiot right now! No word from Blogger tech support.
    Pet the hound for me.

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