I live in the third and last chapter of my life.
Or, that’s the way I see it at the age of 75.
It’s only in the last two years, that I viscerally accepted that I am going to die someday. And, in the not too distant future. Now I find myself more and more thinking about life, how I have lived it, and how I want to live it in the years remaining.
Taking time for this reflection is actually useful, and pleasurable…and necessary. Continue reading
Amazing how the entering into third chapter living promotes the notion of “knowing what I know now, I wish I had…”
Here’s three things I can share from my reflections on 75 years.
1. How you treat your body has consequences later in life. Staying flexible and eating healthy foods does matter. Really.
2. Doing things perfectly is not the perfect prescription for success it was cut out to be.
3. I am really OK and always have been. So are you.
THE EXTRA BONUS: It’s never too soon or too late to sit down and reflect on your own 3 or 6 or 10 lessons, and apply your own wisdom.
I notice that I started formally pondering my third chapter of life in a blog post from April 2014. A late bloomer perhaps. As a 74-year old newly aware of my now mortal being, it was one of my initial forays into the future, after the death of my brother. How was I going to make sense of my own remaining years upcoming? The “third chapter” designation for the years 60 – 90+, really was beginning to resonate with me as a potential framework for my deliberations.
Although I’m trying to divest myself of “shoulds”, I’ll put this in the category of a STRONG RECOMMENDATION. Take your own sneak peek ahead into your third chapter years, sooner than later. Because we’re not going to come out of this life alive. Here’s a peek at where I started: By Golly, yes we should start thinking ahead.