We Are Stepping into the Afternoon of Life

In his work “The Stages of Life”, Carl Jung wrote: “what was truth in the morning will at evening have become a lie.” Jung uses the morning of life as a metaphor for the first phase of life, which is dominated by the ego. However, change begins at the transition from the so-called morning of life into the afternoon of life, when we begin to long for something higher in our own existence.

This thought resonated with me because it describes something I have felt firsthand over time. It is that moment when you realize that what guided you through the first half of life no longer applies.

I am continuing my reflections here from the previous text, “Who am I really without everything I think I am?”, inspired by Dr Wayne Dyer’s book The Shift, this time on the topic of transition, which Dyer, drawing on Jung, calls the step from the morning into the afternoon of life.

A Morning Guided by the Ego

In the morning of life, we allow the ego to be the main voice managing our lives. It pushes us toward more: to want more things, more achievements, a higher position, more money. “More” is its mantra, the promise of a goal that, once reached, always moves just a little bit further away.

When the Change Begins

Somewhere during the transition from morning to afternoon, we begin to long for something that the ego cannot offer. Questions arise that we haven’t asked before: Is this it? What is this really about? What is the meaning of this?

This is not a defeat. It is a call to redirect our trajectory in a way that doesn’t make us lose our drive, but aligns it with a life that has meaning, not just impact.

Jesus puts it this way: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26). And he asks: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Marko 8:36).

From the Spotlight into the Shadow

One of the hardest changes in the afternoon of life is the one concerning recognition. The ego seeks approval, rewarding us with attention and praise, so out of habit, we begin to fight for it. But the afternoon demands the opposite: “For he who is least among you all, he is the greatest” (Luke 9:48).

Diminishing our own self-sufficiency does not mean losing value. It means becoming independent of what others think, whether good or bad.

Separation That Becomes Unity

Throughout life, the ego insists on one story: that we are separate from others, and therefore special. This story teaches us to compare, compete, and sometimes fight. But when we recognize how connected we actually are to the air we breathe, to the people around us, and to God, the need for competition disappears. The desire to dominate gives way to compassion.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

What We Think We Lack

The ego convinces us that we lack something and must search for it externally. But “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). As we move toward that Divine source, the feeling of lack loses its ground. What remains is gratitude for what is.

Where Am I in This?

For twenty-four years, I worked in a corporation where I climbed the ladder from accountant and IT technician to project manager, Competence Center Lead, and Line Manager. I measured myself by what I delivered, how well my team functioned, and how many projects I brought to completion on time and within budget. Everything had its KPI, its evaluation, its “job well done.” The ego absolutely enjoys that structure because it has clear evidence that you are worthy. And then I resigned because that continuous pressure led me to burnout.

I have been practising painting more seriously for the last three or four years. To me, it feels like this transition from the morning to the afternoon of life. I stopped running away from the questions that followed me even during the most successful years of my career. I am slowly learning to diminish the need to be measured and validated, and I am looking more and more for what Jung calls “the soul’s cry for something higher.” For me, that has a concrete name: God, the source from which I come and to which I return.

I do not experience the afternoon of life as a loss of who I was. I experience it as a call to finally create from true purpose, and not out of a habit of proving myself.