When I turned 70, I finally let myself stop working full-time. I figured I’d keep on teaching a course or two a quarter to “keep busy,” and then play more. The first thing to hit me was loneliness – no meetings or colleagues to talk with. The second punch was having no heart for teaching anymore. I was done…

Remember when you were a little girl and pretended to be a princess? How did that feel? Perhaps confident, valued, visible, and more than enough. How would you describe it? Why don’t many of us feel like that now in our lives? Wouldn’t it be fun and inspiring to feel that way again? A friend recently…

The next time you see a tree, let it remind you of the value of friendship and community. When I turned 70, I found myself stunned and lost, wondering “Where did everyone go?” I had recently left full-time work, and around the same time, my grandson, whom I’d raised, launched into young adulthood…

If you step into your ideal self at age 95 and look back, what do you want to see? Is it a life of happiness? Of meaning? Certainly, you want to feel…

“Purpose? I never want another purpose,” a recent retiree told me. “I’ve had enough.” We both laughed. After some conversation, she said she was open to a different word – meaning. Can you feel the difference? For many of us, the notion of purpose feels restrictive and full of obligation for good reasons…

Remember those “Choose Your Own Adventure” ® books by Chooseco? What if we looked at our post-fulltime life like that? After all, there are phases to retirement – from honeymoon to disenchantment to reorientation. Sometimes, there is no honeymoon…

Standing at the threshold of a new year can feel like standing at a portal with one foot in what was, one foot poised to step into what could be. For women over 60, this moment holds power. This phase of life offers you the freedom…

For many of us, our tank feels full of advice on how to live with meaning, be happier, healthier, and think positively. I’m one of those authors who writes about it! After reading 14 books on positive aging, I can confirm the tank is full. And the books keep coming…

Don’t most of us live lives of achievement? We gain knowledge, learn skills, nurture families, accomplish at work, volunteer, etc. We look back and usually feel pretty good about the life we have lived. Right? Then, the time arrives for us to leave the obligations of work and striving behind…

This article focuses on the transition out of full time work. The ideas also are relevant to anyone seeing 65 as a transition into a new phase of life. Let’s begin by framing the end of a full-time career as simply a transition in a continual sequence…