You assume as you age you'll figure out things better and really just find life easier - I've found it just becomes a larger list of fears and unknowns. You get better at handling them, but they keep popping up. Your values are challenged and what you thought was important shift. That surety you had when you were just starting out evaporates as you now need to keep your family/job/house functioning like a pile of spinning plates. You get bigger and bigger rewards, but the obstacles also get bigger and more and more varied to match.