Bernie Borges [00:00:00]:
Hey. Bernie Borges here, host of the Midlife Fulfill podcast with a quick on my mind episode. What’s on my mind right now is kind of a topic that’s always on my mind with regard to what I’m doing with the Midlife Fulfill podcast. And that is just, what is midlife? I get asked that all the time. In fact, I’ve come to believe that there’s a negative perception about midlife. So I’ve been thinking about how to reframe the whole topic of midlife. Is there another word for midlife? And while I don’t really have an answer for that, so I’m not here to announce or quote unquote pontificate on some other replacement for the word midlife, I’m gonna share with you something that, again, is on my mind on this topic that may or may not resonate with you. And that is something that I call pride.
Bernie Borges [00:01:05]:
Specifically, I’m referring to age pride. Yes, age pride. So just think of yourself right now. What what is your age? Right? You know what your age is. I’m not asking you to tell me because we’re not having a real time conversation here. Whatever your age is, how do you feel about that? Are you prideful of that age? So if you’re not, probably some reasons for that. As you know, I talk about the 5 pillars of midlife, health, fitness, career, relationships, and legacy. So back to the question, are you prideful about your age? Now, instead of boiling the ocean for that question, ask yourself that same question.
Bernie Borges [00:01:56]:
Are you prideful for your age and your health pillar? Are you prideful for your age and your fitness pillar? Are you prideful for your age and your career pillar and in your relationship pillar, and in your legacy pillar? So when you look at it that way, at least this is my view, which is why I wanted to come on and share this because it’s on my mind. If you look at your age through the lens of each pillar and ask yourself that question, am I prideful? And by prideful, I mean, like, how do you feel about it? Do you feel good? Do you feel proud of your health? Do you feel proud of your fitness? Do you feel proud of your career? Do you feel proud of your relationships? Do you feel proud of your current legacy, where you are in that pillar? So by looking at it through that lens, you give yourself a shot, basically. You give yourself an opportunity to understand to what extent you have pride in each of those pillars. Doing that might help you come to terms with might help you understand where you are on that fulfillment life cycle. You know, I also often talk about the difference between fulfillment and happiness. If you’ve listened to the Midlife of Philip podcast for any time, hopefully, you’ve heard me talk about that. So here’s a quick little recap. Happiness is an emotion.
Bernie Borges [00:03:27]:
We all wanna be happy, but it’s an emotion. And emotions can run high and low, and they can change quickly even within the same day. Fulfillment is much deeper than happiness. Fulfillment is soul level deep, and fulfillment is usually associated with an achievement, something that either you have achieved or some kind of an achievement in your life that you feel really good about, and it gives you a sense of fulfillment. I’ve often used the example, this is a hypothetical example, of someone who’s very very fulfilled in their career, meaning they’ve accomplished what they want to accomplish, they’re well along in their career, and they have high stature in their career. They feel very fulfilled in their career, but they don’t feel fulfilled in their relationships. Maybe they have broken relationships, or just they’re not fulfilled in relationships. That is an example where they might be fulfilled in their career, but unhappy as well as unfulfilled in their relationships.
Bernie Borges [00:04:27]:
So back to the age pride thing. I talk about this and I say that I have age pride. If you’ve listened to the podcast before, you’ve heard me announce my age. I have so much age pride that I don’t hide my age. I’m 67 years old. Maybe I should say 67 years young. I have age pride because when I look across the 5 pillars hey, look, there’s room for improvement. There’s no question about it.
Bernie Borges [00:04:50]:
In each of those pillars, each of them, health, fitness, career, relationships, and legacy, there is definitely room for improvement. But, by and large, I don’t beat myself up, at least not too much anyway, maybe a little bit, but not a whole lot. I don’t beat myself up over where I am in each of those pillars. And that’s why I characterize it as having age pride. And I look at it through the lens of each of those 5 pillars. So instead of trying to boil the ocean across the entire spectrum of my life and ask myself why am I not fulfilled or not happy or whatever I might be, sort of, down about in a moment, because we all have those down moments, I look at it through the concept through the lens, rather, of my age. For me, at the time of this recording, 67 years young, and I have age pride across each of the 5 pillars. Again, room for improvement, no question about it.
Bernie Borges [00:05:52]:
Some of those pillars more than others, but that’s how I look at it. And so, that’s what I wanted to share with you on this brief little On My Mind episode today, and I would encourage you to try thinking about it that way. Try thinking of your life through the lens of age pride, but specifically through the lens of each of the 5 pillars health, fitness, career, relationships, and legacy. Hey, that’s what’s on my mind for this episode of the midlife fulfilled podcast. Hey, if you’re not subscribed either to the YouTube channel, just press that subscribe button right here on YouTube, as well as on the audio channel as well. Just anywhere you get your audio podcasts, you’ll find the Midlife Fulfilled podcast. Until next time my friend. Hey, I wanna remind you, if you’re 80% fulfilled, you’re doing great.
Bernie Borges [00:06:45]:
I’ll see you next time.
