Exactly. Commonly we tell ourselves things to get through them. "I have to work late and miss johnny's soccer game; but someday I'll leave this crappy job and do better."

> How is that all in a span of 5 years?

In your late 40s, your children are probably approaching independence while your parents are getting hit by senescence. Your career has peaked and meaningful progress in another field is unlikely. Obviously not everyone is the same, but it's statistically common for things to happen along a certain schedule.

Experiencing a mid-life crisis is realizing two things simultaneously:

1. Large parts of your life/identity are over or changed permanently.

2. Loss of the ability to use the 'someday I'll do this right' as a tool to get through the day.

A large psychological crisis combined with a removal of your normal method of coping.