{"id":38760,"date":"2024-10-10T13:59:26","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T20:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38760"},"modified":"2024-10-10T14:10:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T21:10:50","slug":"happy-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/happy-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years ago, a national news station covered the life of Flossie Dickey, who was turning 110 years old. Throughout the interview, the news anchor struggled to get answers regarding Flossie\u2019s family, the secret to longevity, and what she does for fun. She was tired and less than thrilled to be doing the interview. Finally, the interviewer asked Flossie if she was excited about her upcoming 110th<\/sup> birthday celebration, and Flossie, with a slow southern accent, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cNot one bit.\u201d<\/strong>[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The newscast couldn\u2019t help but burst out laughing, and neither could I when I heard her reply. I hope Flossie\u2019s \u201czest for life\u201d is the exception and not the rule of what it looks like to live 100 and beyond. No judgment, Flossie; when I live to be 110, I may be tired, too, and according to The 100-Year Life<\/em> by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, this is a real possibility as we move forward. Things are changing, as usual. Old models and stages of life are becoming obsolete as food scarcity decreases, financial security increases and education becomes more accessible for people. Gratton argues that the \u201cthree-stage life\u201d of education, work, and retirement has been based on a shorter life span. As the authors point out in Chapter 2, if someone retires at age 65 and lives to be 100, that is 35 years of retirement, which is a lot of life to live on the golf course and is not financially viable for many people.[ii]<\/a> \u00a0Living longer means different dynamics are emerging for a \u201cmulti-stage life\u201d. Gratton and Scott encourage people to plan and think differently about their finances, education, leisure, vocation, and values to ensure the highest quality of life as we extend our days on earth.<\/p>\n

One current pain point I consistently hear from older individuals is their frustration with new technology or software introduced by medical facilities, businesses, and schools. Some have even left their jobs because of their inability to adapt. This is not to point a finger or bring shame, but this book challenges me to stay on top of technological changes. Technology is advancing at breakneck speeds.<\/p>\n

Side note: I would argue it is moving faster than our emotional and spiritual maturity can handle. We can access information and share things before filtering them through healthy critical and emotional grids, but I digress\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Back to technology, unless we have a major apocalyptic event that shuts down the power grid, technology will continue to advance, and none of us can afford to \u201clet the youngsters handle all of that new stuff\u201d. I admit I did not engage with AI as quickly as I probably should have; now, I use it almost daily. Scott says, \u201cGiven the degree of likely technological advances, it seems impossible to imagine that a specialism learned early in a career will sustain someone through their long working life. Either through boredom or technological obsolescence, the acquisition of new skills and new specialisms will become a lifelong endeavor.\u201d[iii]<\/a> This book has not only prompted my wife and I to have more conversations around financial planning and building more vacations into our lives, but it has also reinforced a mindset that prioritizes education and learning. Whether this comes in books, post-graduate education, night classes, certifications, or workshops, keeping a hunger for growth and adaptability is not an option if we take multistage living as a real possibility.<\/p>\n

While reading this book, I could not help but think about health and fitness. Gratton and Scott touch on health and mental deterioration topics but do not dedicate large sections toward it. Working in the fitness industry for several years allowed me to see the stark difference between individuals 65 and above who moved regularly and those who did not. Our older clients saw the most results and gained the most benefits from regular exercise, which branded the phrase, \u201cmove it or lose it,\u201d in my brain. The encouraging thing is that it didn\u2019t take a lot. It just took doing simple movements regularly and consistently over time to significantly impact mobility, strength, balance, flexibility, and even cognitive functioning. Our God-given bodies are meant to be used, or they deteriorate, and I believe the mind works the same way. \u00a0Anticipating multistage living moves us from education and even exercise as an early-stage endeavor to a lifelong journey in our 30s, 50s, 70s, and beyond.<\/p>\n

Speaking of journeys, I thought about Parker Palmer\u2019s Let Your Life Speak <\/em>during the sections on re-creating versus recreation, which is ultimately about identity. Gratton and Scott say, \u201cMight these years, distributed throughout a life, bring the time and opportunity to explore who you are and arrive at a way of living that is nearer to your own personal values and hopes than to the traditions of the society into which you were born? If so, then this is perhaps the greatest gift that longevity can bestow.\u201d[iv]<\/a>\u00a0 When it comes to Palmer\u2019s Let You Life Speak<\/em>, he talks about the first half of life as putting masks on for social conformity and success and the last half as taking masks off to find your true self (whatever that may be).[v]<\/a> Will living longer give us more time to live as our authentic selves? I wonder what Flossie Dickey would say to that? Either way, we need to plan accordingly, make our mark, and enjoy the time we have on this earth.<\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> \u201cInterview with 110 Year Old Woman, Flossie Dickey.\u201d Youtube, February 18, 2016. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OAUn3A4QtaI.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> Gratton, Lynda, and Andrew Scott. The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity<\/em>. Paperback edition. Bloomsbury Business. London Oxford New York, NY New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Business, 2017, 50.<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> Gratton and Scott, The 100-Year Life, 94.<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> Ibid., 283.<\/p>\n

[v]<\/a> Palmer, Parker J. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation<\/em>. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey Bass, 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years ago, a national news station covered the life of Flossie Dickey, who was turning 110 years old. Throughout the interview, the news anchor struggled to get answers regarding Flossie\u2019s family, the secret to longevity, and what she does for fun. She was tired and less than thrilled to be doing the interview. Finally, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310,1],"tags":[2489,3289,3297],"class_list":["post-38760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp02","tag-grattonscott","tag-the100yearlife","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38760"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38766,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38760\/revisions\/38766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}