Midlife crisis? Who me?

I'm not afraid or ashamed of my age and anyone who knows me knows that I'll be 40 in November. With the average life expectancy for women to be around 80 years old, I figure I'm entering the second half of my life. I'm not one to dwell on the past or have regrets. I'm over all that now. In fact, I can look back fondly and feel that I've had a good life, so far. So far... which begs the question, "What now?"

After a great deal of soul searching, I came up with a few options. The following are samples provided for your amusement:

-Run away and start a new life. Okay, that's a little far fetched, but who doesn't sometimes think about this? Admit it, YOU think about it. We all do from time to time, but I hope I don't need to say that this isn't going to happen. I love my family and my life. Is it is an easy life? Not a chance. Would I leave? Not a chance!

-Buy a fancy sports car. I had to rule this one out. I just got a new car in December and it's about as sporty as I could manage and still get my WHOLE family in it. It's an Acura MDX and we affectionately call it the Tardis. If you've ever seen one, you would probably never believe that my family of 6 actually fits in it. I swear it really is bigger on the inside than the outside! Anyway, it's obviously not a fancy sports car and I can't afford another car, so let's move on.

-Go back to school. This one got serious consideration for a while. I have always had the intention of going to graduate school "later" in my life. This option, although not completely discarded, is not logistically feasible at this time. Caring for four children with special needs is a full time job and then some. It would be hard to find enough time to merely ATTEND a couple classes, let alone have time for homework and research. This idea is still firmly in the realm of things I will do "later".

-Take up a new hobby. Well, most people don't need a midlife crisis to do this and I suppose some would think this too lame to be the result of soul searching, and I've tried so many hobbies in nearly 40 years that I didn't think there was much left to try. I was wrong. I've always been interested in martial arts, but I'd never really been drawn to any in particular. Truth be told, I don't like the idea of actually fighting. A few months ago I discovered that I could learn the tradition Samurai art of drawing the sword, called iai (pronounced ee-eye). This I like! There is no fighting, just deep concentration and focus. So the "crisis" is over. :)

I won't get into the details about iai, because I don't think I could adequately explain it without going into it at length and I don't have nearly enough time right now. There are many schools of iai and I am learning Mugai Ryu Iaihyodo. The following are a couple links if you are interested in learning more about it:

Suimokai
Shinjinkai

Maybe I'll add a picture of me in my uniform "soon", since I have practice tonight and will actually have a sword to wear for the picture. MY sword is being made in Japan, even as I type this and I hope to have it by the end of the month. It's just a practice sword (iaito), so it's not a real katana with a sharp blade, but it's meant to look and feel like the real thing. I will DEFINITELY post pictures of my iaito when I get it. It's sure to become one of my most prized possessions.