I've almost managed it. Through a process of evolution, most of it accidental, my life is very different from what it was a decade ago. And not only different, but better.

I have a wonderful partner of 10 years. True, ten years could be considered a long time, but we don't have the same relationship we did 10 years ago. We went from the "I'm head over heels in love - she can do no wrong" phase directly into the "I'm taking her for granted and she's just pissing me off" phase. Recently, things have been moving perilously close to the realm of cooperative partnership. Not every day, but a lot of days.

I have a new truck. Not brand new, but five years old, new to me, it looks good, and I really like it. I might even wash this one. Occassionally. She has a new vehicle too, one that she really likes to drive. As much as she ever likes driving.

My hobbies progress. The "old" ones I'm improving at, and the new ones are just as cool as the old ones. They all enable me to delve into my deep need for new wardrobes.

The lifestyle already got turned on its head when we went from "urban with a horse boarded in the country" to "living with a bunch of horses in my backyard" three years ago.

Image? I'm in great shape, comparatively speaking. Don't need to change there, except that the bald spot is growing larger. The way I avoid focusing on that is that I can't actually see it. Once in a while, I see a photograph of me from the back and think "My Gods, I'm BALD!" Luckily, I'm forgetful that way. My residual self image does not have a bald spot. (I'd be a good candidate for The Matrix in that respect. By the way, that movie always had me wondering why everyone with "residual self image" wasn't better looking. But I digress...)

My advice for those suffering from mid-life crisis? It's too late. Just get on with it, and do all those stupid things you need to do. Mid-life crisis can't be fixed, it can only be avoided. It can be avoided by constant change and improvement in all areas of your life. You can't have a crisis of boredom (which is all a mid-life crisis is, really) if you never get bored.

What's left for me? The job. I've been working for the same company for 14 years. True, it's not been at the same job the whole time, but it still seems old. The appropriate professional response would be to find some inspiration to improve. After all, I'm not so good at my job that I couldn't do a lot better. But that's proving difficult...