Welcome to Midlife . Where everything hurts, but you still get the job done

Somewhere around 42, your body stops sending warnings. It just starts issuing penalties.

One day you’re walking around just fine, the next day you wake up and your knee’s locked up like it owes someone money. You didn’t run a marathon. You didn’t fall off a roof. You just slept — apparently wrong. And now your shoulder’s been reminding you about it for three weeks.

This is middle age: the age of mystery pains, early bedtimes, and the moment right before you bend over where you ask yourself a serious question…

“Is it worth it?”

The Pre-Bend Evaluation

It used to be so simple. Something fell, you picked it up. These days it’s more of a cost-benefit analysis.

• What’s on the floor?

• How bad do I need it?

• Is there anyone younger around?

• Can I live without it for the rest of the day — or forever?

Because here’s the thing: it’s never just bending over. It’s bending over and wondering if your back is going to betray you like it did last weekend after you sneezed too hard loading the truck.

You start treating simple actions like pulling a hamstring is always a coin flip away. That’s not weakness. That’s wisdom.

The Sounds Start Too

You don’t just feel the pain — you hear it now.

• Standing up: crack

• Sitting down: pop

• Rolling over in bed: ugh

• Opening a bourbon bottle: the only satisfying sound left

The only time you move in complete silence is when you’re already asleep.

You Adjust, You Adapt

Eventually, you develop systems.

You carry things in bunches so you don’t have to get up twice.

You use your foot to drag something closer before reaching for it.

You say “I’m just resting my eyes” but you’re really just trying to give your neck a chance to reset.

And weirdly… it becomes normal. You don’t like it, but you stop fighting it. Because you realize that every ache, every sore spot, every creak — they’re not just signs of wear. They’re signs you’ve been living. Hard. And long enough to collect some rust.

Final Pour

Middle age isn’t about giving up — it’s about adjusting your grip.

You still bend over to pick things up.

You just think about it a little longer now.

And maybe pour yourself a bourbon afterward.

You’ve earned it.

—

Welcome to Midlife . Where everything hurts, but you still get the job done.

🥃 Cask & Stream