by Mark Antony Rossi
For most men, the state of marriage mutates into a form of mental illness which often physically manifests itself years later in what is euphemistically called a “mid-life” crisis.
This occurrence is not the fault of women or life partners but rather a direct result of poor communication skills that hold back critical elements of candor. It’s a terrible irony to willfully sign a social contract with one destined to be your closest counterpart; yet deprive the relationship of the spiritual nutrients embedded in free exchange and vitally necessary to sustain a productive living.
We damage our lives; dare say our health, by cutting out, shutting off, locking away what we should naturally communicate or emotionally elevate in unobstructed moments. Yet we allow perceptions of weakness to degrade into the prejudice that wastes precious time. The loss is greater in scope since it appears connected to an instinctual distrust of love that shuns what is painful to the psyche.
Mid-life bouts like writer’s bloc morph into urban legends with abnormal agendas of their own. I deem these phrases heartless diversions meant to shield negativity but ultimately screen out reality and deprive people of genuine experience.
And this calls into question, how are we helping the distressed or the depressed if we carelessly label their trauma “a passing” (death of a loved one) or “mid-life crisis”(moderate depression). Soulless semantics are corrosive game-enders because their aim is to evade; not evaluate.
We cannot aid the living sick with lifeless metaphors. There can be no substitute for the medicinal value of humanity. Either we brave the consequences, good and bad, of the human touch, or we hide behind the walls of Jericho unable to withstand the inevitable trumpets of truth.
We cannot save our marriage, our community, or our country if we haven’t begun to confront the enemy within. What fair fight is possible if we are not willing to face the mirror? Battlefields drenched in the blood are child’s play compared to the betrayal of destiny by your own hand.
Self-deception is suicide which is a death radically different than military defeat. To lose a struggle is not equal to giving up a struggle. The center of any worthy conflict is what emanates from the character. And only character rescues dignity from the clutches of a digital world bent on proving animated pixels are products of the promised land.
About the Author:
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