HOW TO LIVE the Second Half of Life
Editor’s note: Meridian is pleased to partner with the Eyres in presenting their new online course called HOW TO LIVE The Second Half of Life. The course is in its final stages of development and is built around short posts and articles so that members can listen and participate with five minutes here and five minutes there whenever they have the time. The pre-course is now underway, and Meridian readers can JOIN FOR FREE. The Eyres will lead the course, but several “adjunct faculty” including the Proctors, will also contribute. We are pleased to present this two-part overview from the Eyres (part two will be here in this space two weeks from today on April 11.)
Spiritual and Familial Maturity
One thing we love about writing for Meridian Magazine is that it has a mature audience—not that there are no young readers, but whether young or old, Meridian readers are generally mature in their outlooks, in their beliefs, in their families and in their testimonies. And perhaps some, like us, are in the second half of our lives and striving to live and grow in a different and more spiritually mature way than we did in our first half. Many of us are grandparents, or approaching grandparenthood, and we are more aware than ever that our families, our relationships, and our grandchildren are our true legacies. Thus, we are open to new ideas on how to be more effective leaders of three-generation families, how to be more proactive and sensitive in our grandparenting, and just generally HOW TO LIVE the second half of our live with maximum joy and fulfillment.
And as simple and obvious as it sounds—that we are all getting older and have new opportunities and new challenges in how we live—it deserves some deep and serious thought—because the second half of life is very different than the first; and coming to recognize that, and deliberately making the changes that it allows, can make all the difference.
And may we let you in on a little secret that most of you have already figured out: The second half can be better than the first! And how do we know that? Because we all have Grandkids!
The Big HOW Question
But how do we LIVE the second half? How do we make the most of it? How do we re-prioritize and re-calibrate? Should it be more about relationships and less about achievements now? More about broadening and contributing and less about aspiring and competing? More about being a consultant than a manager to our kids and grandkids? These are questions the two of us have been thinking about and writing about for a long time now, and we think we have some ideas, if not solutions—and we want to share them with all of you who read Meridian Magazine. And as mentioned in the editor’s note above, we are doing that through a new online course called HOW TO LIVE The Second Half of Life, and you can sign up for free right HERE.
Of course, we all want to be better grandparents and better parents of adult children—but here is the interesting thing: Our tendency is to think “OK, I want to be a better grandma (or grandpa) so I better start changing and improving my grandkids!”
In fact, if we want to be better parents and grandparents, we need to start changing and improving ourselves! We need to become better listeners, better empathizers, better supporters and cheerleaders, and better leaders and unifiers of our 3-generation families. We need to work on ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually—to try to become the kind of people who our grown children and grandkids can look up to and respect (and ask for advice) as well as love.
Where is the Owner’s Manual, and where are the Mentors?
So, who helps us to become all that? Where is the owner’s manual for the second half of life? When we were younger, most of us had mentors and teachers and role models who could guide us, but who guides us now?
Well, here is a unique idea: We can and should be mentoring each other. Hats off to Maurine and Scot Proctor and a little hand-picked cadre of outstanding grandparents and “second-half-ers” who are helping us figure out the best ways and the best ideas for doing that, because the finest grandparenting ideas and senior-living ideas will always come from other grandparents and other seniors. The best advice on preserving our physical and mental abilities will come from others in our same life-phase. The best motivation to make ourselves better emotionally and socially and spiritually will result from being in contact with other second-half folks who have figured out certain parts of it better than we have.
What we want to do through the HOW TO LIVE course is to make that peer-to-peer learning more deliberate and more powerful—an ongoing discussion group among second-half-ers who want this to be the best phase of all. The course is set up in a way that allows you to listen in or join in on your own schedule, whenever you want, on apps that allow you to comment and ask questions.
I (Richard) will lead the course, but of course Linda will be highly involved as she always is, as will a half-dozen or so “Adjunct Professors” mentioned above who will offer their response to what I say and bring in their own insights on the artful and joyful living of the second half of our lives.
Let us be candid enough to say that I am in the second half of the second half of our lives—and in a way, we are a little embarrassed that it took us this long to figure out some of the things we want to pass on to you. We want you figure it out a little sooner, and live it for a little longer!
Call to Action
Take a minute, right now if you can, and click here where there are more details, and where Meridian readers can sign up for free and participate as much as they like in the early, general stages of the course which have already begun this Spring. By the time summer rolls around, if you are finding the pre-course interesting and helpful, you can enroll in the full course where, over the next six months, we will be exploring and examining the “Autumn and Winter” of life during the Autumn and Winter of the year
And remember, the point is to learn from each other, so feel free to pass this link on to any other second-half-ers who you would like to see in the course with you.
A Quick Summary
Here are a few “teasers” on the things we all ought to be thinking about in our Second Halves:
How to Live Physically
New approaches to how to eat, how to sleep, how to exercise. The free gifts and proper use of Air and Water. How to relax instantly, at will. How to reduce your psychological age by 10 years. The two productive body-sets of Lightning and Waves. Easy monitoring–becoming your own physician and knowing enough to avoid health surprises.
How to live Mentally
Fresh perspectives on how to think, how to imagine, how to read, how to transition from “work and plan” to “watch and pray.” Artificial Intelligence vs Authentic Intelligence. Viewing Nature as an Inspirational Mother. Reading and listening differently. The art of Anti-planning. Relationship Goals. Enlightened Observing. The visual magic of foam-core boards. Thinking freely. Noticing what others miss.
How to live Socially
Reinvented Awareness on how to listen and how to ask the right question at the right moment. “Crystal-ball heads.” Forming a Trust Group. Discovering compound-questions. Making vertical relationships horizontal. The joy of being inconvenienced. Making friends with your own adult children. Disagreeing agreeably.
How to live Emotionally
Surprising alternative paradigms on how to chill, how to make the hard easy, how to find deliberate calm. Answers to whence cometh peace. Feeling deeply. Enjoying simple. Trading control for serendipity. Discovering more of the aesthetic and becoming a true creator. Trading Ownership for Stewardship. Trading Control for Serendipity, Loving More. Seeing the beauty of truth and the truth of beauty.
How to live Spiritually
Enlightened insights on how to meditate, how to receive. The real Spirit You. The counterintuitive power of under-preparing. A powerful can’t-do attitude. The secular and spiritual meaning of Grace. Taping into the Divine. Seeing yourself from above. The three things you can take with you: People, Places, and Purpose. The His-Agenda pattern of Releasing, Requesting, Receiving, and Responding. Self-correcting prayer.
How to live Communally or Familially
Shared secrets on how to be vulnerable, how to trust, how to sail the relationship. Three-generation family management. Grandparenting and empty-nest parenting. The eight myths of marriage. The Emerson/Thoreau bounce. Oneness partnerships. Discovering how to influence grandkids without stepping on parent’s toes.
Remember, Socrates himself was a “senior” when he said “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Expand and Examine your Second Half within the stimulation of this course. There is nothing to lose and lots to gain. Get signed up for free and join us in the quest.
Linda and Richard Eyre are New York Times #1 bestselling authors who lecture throughout the world on matters of family, parenting, and life-balance. Recently they have turned their attention to where they are in their own lives—Grandparenting and the Second Half.
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