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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Eleanor Gordon-Smith

I just turned 40 and my life is not what I hoped for. How can I make it better for myself?

‘When we peer into other people’s lives from the outside they look more together than they feel on the inside,’ writes Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Painting: The Young Orphan by William Merritt Chase.
‘When we peer into other people’s lives from the outside they look more together than they feel on the inside,’ writes Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Painting: The Young Orphan by William Merritt Chase. Illustration: Vidimages/Alamy

I recently turned 40 and I feel that everything is coming to an end, rather than it being the middle of my life. I spent much of my 30s caring for my elderly parents while I lived in insecure share houses. I was single for all those years, apart from a couple of brief relationships. My mother died during the pandemic and my father moved cities and is now looked after by one of my siblings. I am terrified of losing him, but he is increasingly frail each time I visit, which I’m not able to do often due to my job.

I still work in a junior role despite my age and I did not manage to maintain friendships as my experience was so different from theirs. I am being bullied at work and I find it heartrending that I spend my days in an environment where this is happening, while not being able to see my father.

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