Doing It All – the Gift of a Longer Life

Do you remember when you were a young child and people asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up?  Do you remember rattling off a list of occupations, much like a shopping list? The notable thing to me, as I think back, is that the conjunction in the list was not “or.” It was “and.”

Growing up in families where one or both of our parents spent their entire career in a single job, doing the same thing day after day, and never even leaving one company to go to work for a different company, we probably never realized how prophetic our words and our lists of jobs could be. Most of us have probably worked for at least two companies during our adult lives. Many of us have already changed careers at least once. A surprising number of us have also completely reinvented our working lives at least once.

One of the greatest things about the new world in which we are growing older and wiser is that we have unlimited opportunities. We can actually do more of the things on our list of what we wanted to do when we grew up. Or, we can find new ways to do what we already do well.

What I believe will be the memorable character of Baby Boomers after age 65 will be that we will still be doing – we will still be contributing to society in meaningful and important ways. Our lives after age 65 are likely to be anything but “retiring.” We will be active, we will be vital, and we will give back in powerful ways. Having opportunity for doing it all is the gift of a longer life and the culmination of who we are.

“When one door is shut, another opens.”   — Miguel de Cervantes

Listen to my new podcasts on how to Dream Big and Live Happy. Mark your calenders for the upcoming Dream Big Live Big retreat on November 5 & 6th to jump start 2011 www.dreambiglivebigevent.com