From Strength to Strength (Arthur C Books)

 

This book looked like it was totally my jam. I have read a number of books on aging. Mostly, the books I've read have had an approach of aging well and accomplishing all you can. This one was more focused on letting things go, accepting declines and settling down into spirituality. I don't really buy into the striver curse. I plan to keep having goals and striving. If not, what else there? Oh ya....walk and meditate and ponder. I totally agree that you must make time for self-development by scheduling your meditation, prayer, reading and practice every day. Those are good things....but what is one going to do the rest of the day? He says that your decline, as painful as it is should be experienced - and shared. He also encourages the reader to embrace their weaknesses and to start by imagining the peace in your heart from no longer pretending you are not weak. This is all in an effort to have other drawn to you and learn from you. I'm not so sure anyone would find it that inspiring.

I did like his questions to ask yourself as you embark on new chapters. I thought they'd be good questions to ponder on each birthday:

• What activities will you keep?
• What activities will you evolve and do differently?
• What activities will you let go of?
• What new activities will you learn?
• What will you commit to doing in the next week to evolve into the new you? the next month? the next six months?
• In a year, what will be the first fruits to appear as a result of your commitments? 

I finished this book because I have the idea that that's what readers do. I can't say it was that profound or inspiring though, as much as I wanted it to be! 

The author sums up the book with:
Use things
Love people
Worship the divine

Good advice. The author is just three years older than me, but I don't think I'm going to  follow his thinking just yet. I think I am not ready to give up on being a striver just yet though. 

Goodreads says:

The roadmap for finding purpose, meaning, and success as we age, from bestselling author, Harvard professor, and the Atlantic's happiness columnist Arthur Brooks.

Many of us assume that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs.

What can we do, starting now, to make our older years a time of happiness, purpose, and yes, success?

At the height of his career at the age of 50, Arthur Brooks embarked on a seven-year journey to discover how to transform his future from one of disappointment over waning abilities into an opportunity for progress. From Strength to Strength is the result, a practical roadmap for the rest of your life.

Drawing on social science, philosophy, biography, theology, and eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women, Brooks shows us that true life success is well within our reach. By refocusing on certain priorities and habits that anyone can learn, such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others, and spiritual progress, we can set ourselves up for increased happiness.

Read this book and you, too, can go from strength to strength.