I remember when I was little, there was a teacher at my school who drove a red Mazda Miata. I’m guessing he was in his 50s at the time and I don’t recall him ever talking about having a wife or children of his own. He was balding, what hair he had was mostly white, and his beer belly was decidedly pronounced. Does it mean that I’m going through a midlife crisis if I now want that red Miata?

And I don’t have a beer belly; it’s called a dad bod.

This point of this week’s vlog was meant to be largely educational in nature, but in editing and watching it back, I can see how it comes off a little depressing. The truth of the matter is that adulthood is difficult and we all just need to learn how to deal with it. And the first step is to talk about these challenges and frustrations, openly and honestly.

On social media, people tend to present only the best version of themselves. When we compare our real lives to these Facebook characters, we can feel like we’re coming up short. Positivity is a good thing, but it can be awfully misleading too.

The problem with approaching life one step at a time is you end up focusing only on the immediate situation and you lose sight of your long term goals, dreams and ambitions. You blink and, all of a sudden, you’re in your 40s or 50s and you’re expected to act like a grown-up. You’re expected to know what you’re doing.

The savage truth of the midlife crisis is that it’s not something you afflicts you overnight. Like chronic stress or the degradation of your physical health, the pains of a midlife crisis slowly accumulate over time, silently and apologetically. You might not even notice it’s there.

But when and if you do, you should talk to someone about it.