Hello, friends! My name is Billy Lahr, and I’m the creator and host of The Mindful Midlife Crisis, a podcast for people navigating the complexities and possibilities of life’s second half.
Alongside my co-host and good friend Brian on the Bass, our goal is to help people better understand how we can enjoy and make the most of the life we have left to live in a more meaningful way.
Not only do we share our own life experiences, but we also talk to guests who carry with them a wealth of knowledge and a high level of expertise on topics such as mental and physical well-being, mindfulness, social/emotional learning, diversity, suicide awareness, and relationships.
We also talk to people who share in a vulnerable and honest way how they have navigated (or are still navigating) their own challenging (and sometimes traumatic) experiences.
Our conversations are down-to-earth and real..but we do mix in some laughter from time to time as well!
The idea for this podcast has long been in the works.
You see, getting lost in my thoughts is a hobby of mine.
I imagine the hamster keeping that thought-wheel in motion is exhausted. I imagine the bingo caller cranking those same tired thoughts around in my head over and over and over again has to keep switching arms because he feels like they’re about to fall off.
Do you find yourself consumed by your thoughts like this?
How many of those thoughts are filled with negativity or self-doubt?
For the first half of my 30s, negativity and self-doubt were all I knew.
I couldn’t shake them.
They wrapped around me like a boa constrictor, suffocating me from the inside out until I would have full-blown anxiety attacks–crinkling my hands, lurching my shoulders forward, squeezing my neck so tight that I would give myself mind-numbing headaches.
All of this mental, emotional, and physical anguish took its toll on me, and my thoughts shifted from negativity and self-doubt to seeking out a more permanent solution so I wouldn’t have to feel this way ever again…
But I’m still here…
And that’s what I’d like to share with you during this podcast.
I’d like to share with you the story of how being more mindful of my emotions and environment not only changed my life but most likely saved it as well.
I imagine many of us navigating the second halves of our lives may be experiencing some sort of existential crisis about growing older.
For me, I’ve never felt so emotionally stable and aware in all my life.
Don’t get me wrong…I still feel stress, anxiety, and depression from time to time, but those feelings aren’t as intense as they once were because I have learned how to manage my emotions in a much healthier way.
Now, let me be real here..the hard part for me in trying to sell you on my struggles with anxiety is that I’m a straight, white, educated American male overflowing with privilege, and I don’t know how to justify why I used to feel so much anxiety from day to day.
I’m not subjected to the same microaggressions and overt racism and homophobia that millions of people across the world face and yet somehow endure.
My life, from that perspective, hasn’t really been all that difficult.
And yet, to this day, I still feel this sense of unrest and anxiety, and at times, these feelings can manifest themselves into thought tornadoes that wreak a path of destruction within my mind, within my soul, and with whomever I encounter.
But what I have learned (and what I continue to relearn) more than anything during this Mindful Midlife Crisis is that I am not my thoughts.
Thanks to years of meditation and mindfulness, I am able to break up those thought tornadoes that swirl around in my head so they don’t get out of control and destroy everything in my path.
Mindfulness has taught me how to weather the storm–sure, I may get wet from time to time, but I’m not going to let my house blow away.
I hope this podcast helps you grow, find happiness, attain enlightenment, seek out more opportunities that take your breath away or stretch out your comfort zone, or light the way to whatever you may need in order to feel happy, healthy, and loved…
Take care, friends…
