All of us are conditioned by our life experiences. During our growing up years we see our parents go through a set of situations in their lives and they automatically get recorded in our mind. We all know that all children learn by using their inner senses.

Subtle as they have been, these experiences become a reference point in our subconscious mind. At around the same time in our life when we experience situations that resonate within us we start to compare them with our reference points, in our subconscious mind, created when we were children. This is an unconscious event that happens to everyone.

Let's look at an example. After our academic education as we enter the work arena we are open to all kinds of experiences. Maybe it's because we believe that the work life will now give us the freedom from being tied down to books and rules and regulations imposed upon us by our parents.

This new found freedom allows us to make mistakes and go through life's experiences. At this stage we are conditioned to learning through our outer senses. Hence, we get into relationships and experience its joys and sorrows. Our financial life also goes through an upheaval and again we learn our lessons and change all that does not work. All these events also get registered in as reference points in our subconscious. As long as we are single we live our life with a vision that is wide enough to allow accumulation of reference points.

As we grow older - find the love of our life, get married, have children, buy a house, own a car, go on vacations and do everything as a family - we become myopic. Our vision becomes narrow, distorted and blurred. All that goes through our mind now is how to balance our financial life and keep the family together. The needs keep growing as the children grow. Life is now restricted to working hard to keep the home fires burning.

The demands, of work and family, on our time take a toll on our life. Going to work, having lunch with colleagues, making mistakes, learning through experiences, and all that we used to enjoy is now forgotten and everything becomes a chore. Finding time to rest and relax is all that we think about.

Then suddenly we arrive at that point in our life which activates the reference point that was registered as children watching our parents. Midlife crisis!

We lose interest in everything because we have lost our purpose.

Midlife crisis is just an alarm clock that wakes us from our slumber to remind us that there is lot more to do than just sit around and mope. It reminds us to awaken and connect with our purpose once again.

We spend a lot of time and effort to make sure our car is serviced regularly, the oil changed, the brakes replaced, etc. Our bodies work the same way. But when it comes to our selves we have no time. We put into our bodies food that most times is not good for us. In the name of enjoyment and relaxation we party hard and put our bodies through extremities. Taking care of our body, the vehicle used to earn a comfortable living is not given the time of the day it so rightly deserves.

Soon we find our body alarms going off. These alarms go off in the form of suffering - pains and aches, dis-eases, depression, anxiety, weight gain, etc.

The lessons we learn during our 'lean' times are very simple. They can be applied as we go through our work life right from day one.

11 Easy Ways to Avoid Midlife Crisis and be Happy, Rich and Successful!

1. Watch your thoughts. They point to the obstacles on your path.
2. Listen more. Everyone is trying to tell you something.
3. Keep an open mind. Teachers are all around you.
4. Have a learning attitude. Every person is trying to teach you something.
5. Be grateful. Gratitude attracts good fortune.
6. Smile. Smiling is very contagious. It brightens up your day.
7. Trust. Trust yourself.
8. Emotions. Release the negative charge from all emotions.
9. Give and Receive. Nature's way of life. Learn from it.
10. Know Yourself. Strengthen your strengths.
11. Silence. Wear the Si-Lense and see a clearer picture.

Article contributed by Rajan G. Ramchandani, Personal Development TheraCoach , mailto:dnaunited@yahoo.com" DNA United , a training, coaching and consulting company in Singapore. Email: dnaunited@yahoo.com