Chapter Outline
It’s Bert’s first day as a driver for a national delivery company. He was getting burned out in his previous job at the distribution warehouse, so he is excited about this new position that comes with better pay and hours. He’s good at reading and understanding the route map for deliveries, especially now that he has new reading glasses, but he finds the GPS alerts distracting. He also feels the stress of learning new responsibilities, and he misses the exercise of walking around and lifting items at the warehouse. Luckily, this new delivery job offers more free time to walk his dog and play softball with friends, and it will provide more opportunities to save for retirement. Bert’s even had time in the morning to blend smoothies to take along on his route, which his doctor suggested as part of a healthy diet. Bert finds that focusing on those benefits helps him to adopt a positive mindset and sleep better at night. He is hopeful about navigating other changes to come in this stage of life.
Bert has concerns and questions about middle adulthood that many share, including:
- How does the brain function differently at this life stage than at younger ages?
- Is it better for life satisfaction to stay in one job or workplace, or to look for new opportunities?
- Is it true that forgetfulness increases in middle age?
- How do the changes of middle adulthood affect overall well-being?
- How do people at this life stage balance work and leisure?
- What are the most important benefits of regular exercise, a healthy diet, sleep, and a positive mindset in middle adulthood?
In this chapter, you will learn about the changes in physical and cognitive development that occur during middle adulthood, including how those changes impact well-being at this time of life.