When the pain is all that they offer
Like the kiss from the lips of a monster
You know the famine so well, but never met the feast
When home is the belly of a beast
- A Safe Place to Land, Sara Bareilles
My husband left me for another woman. My coworker’s husband left her for another woman. My childhood best friend’s husband left her for another woman. All in their late 40s. Do these men think that their situation is unique and special? That they found true love? How do they not see that they are a stereotype, a trope, that midlife crisis doesn’t excuse bad behavior?
Listen, I understand midlife crisis. I would love to sell up and move to the North West Territories and walk my dog in the midnight sun this summer. But that isn’t real life. My dog is too old, my son is too young and I am too dependent on my income. So I choose to be happy with the life I have. I make the best of what I have, find happiness in what I have, I focus on what I have and not on what I don’t.
I recognize that I am blessed.
But they didn’t. What the hell? Half the movies I watch make fun of men having midlife crises. You aren’t special. You just hurt your family for, what? Someone told you that you are special? I told you all kinds of positive things but you only focused on the negative. I told you to choose happiness. You could have chosen a happy home. You could have chosen to see the bright side and to enjoy what you already had.
You chose poorly.
