In 1976, when he was forty-four years old, Henri Nouwen co-authored a book entitled Aging: The Fulfillment of Life. One of Nouwen's colleagues who worked in the field of gerontology extolled the book as the best he had read on aging. Nouwen responded, "I know nothing about aging." Because he was only forty-four at the time his answer was probably correct. But if you are a baby boomer, someone born between 1946 and 1964, you now know something about aging!
In 1968 we baby boomers first started graduating from college. We were, are, and will continue to be people asking questions, people questing for the truth and the meaning of life just as they were during their college years and the social, political, and institutional upheavals of the 1960s. Now we face a new round of upheavals and new questions occasioned by our aging. For example,
- Are you wondering what is to come as you notice changes in your physical health?
- Are you nearing the end of your career and beginning to ask yourself "Who am I, really?" and "What next?"
- Are your priorities changing as you experience the loss of family, friends, and peers?
At the same time:
- Are you experiencing greater freedom to live as your responsibilities and demands subside?
- Are you looking forward to creating a new life thanks to the wisdom of your lived experience?
- Are the questions of life's meaning and purpose becoming more important?
We cannot dodge the realities or the questions these upheavals of aging provoke and evoke. If we try to evade them, there are just too many reminders that we are aging. There is no denying the reality that we are aging and that we have lived more years of our lives than remain to be lived.
What can we do and how can we live fully in the face of such profound and sometimes frightening realities? We can re-envision our aging and seek the opportunities for growth that aging holds for us.
In this program, we will focus on the spiritual dimension of our life's journey. We will explore some of the spiritual opportunities and paths that are present in our aging.
About Bob Weber:
Recipient of the American Society on Aging's 2014 Religion, Spirituality, and Aging Award, Robert L. Weber, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Psychology, part-time at Harvard Medical School and a former Jesuit. He also serves as a Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Psychiatry faculty member.
Bob has had a long-standing interest in the integration of psychology and spirituality. This interest is born of his profession as a clinical psychologist and his lifelong commitment to personal spiritual development as both a lay Catholic and former Jesuit. He has been working to integrate a third dimension, aging.
At his private practice, located in Cambridge, MA, he conducts psycho-spiritual issues groups. Bob also leads seminars, days of reflection, and retreats in a variety of settings that integrate aging, spirituality, and mental health.
Get in touch with Bob Weber:
Buy Bob’s Book: https://revolutionizeretirement.com/spirituality
Download Bob’s Handout: https://revolutionizeretirement
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