Member-only story
I Learned 1 Thing from My Friends in Their Mid-40s & 50s. It’s Called ‘Dignity’.
I can sense the Big D slipping away when friends lose their $12,000 salaries
Life takes an interesting turn when we hit 40.
You start to see things in a different light. +30 years more to go pale in comparison to those 40 years behind you. I don’t know how to describe it. It just comes. And you know it.
I was, of course, hit by it.
However, this initial fear of the unknown felt pronounced during a lunchtime catch-up with friends. 1 in his 40s, 1 in her 50s. Suddenly, just so suddenly, I could read their soul like an open book for 5th graders.
These are people I respect.
These are people who have suffered from retrenchment, forced retirement, and going through protracted interview droughts.
I read one word from their faces.
That word is dignity.
From the fearless 20s to the invincible 30s to the pivoting 40s
The first 15 to 20 years after college graduation was a breeze.
It is compared to what my friends and I are going through in our 40s.
