I’ve finally hit my midlife crisis. How do I know what I’m meant to do?

‘The same things that put us in the midlife crisis are the things that make life valuable at all,’ writes Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Painting: Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle by Arnold Böcklin. Illustration: SJArt/Alamy

I think I’ve finally hit my midlife crisis. People always talk about it as something dramatic that you should somehow prepare for, but for me it arrived quietly. And now that it’s finally staring me in the face, it feels like the end of my days.

I had a career in social care that I eventually abandoned after being completely burnt out by the pandemic. I moved into a different sector hoping I’d feel inspired again, or at least freer, but I don’t. Now I’m burnt out all over again, unemployed and completely unsure what I’m supposed to do with my life.